The End of the Old
by The Mystery of a Writer
Summary: When Shayera runs into a red head who she happens to know and villains begin to escape, things seem to be pointed toward the end of the world. As her past catches up with her can time straighten itself out to make Shayera's destiny possible? Please R
1. The Kid

**I DON'T OWN JUSTICE LEAGUE! sorry for all the people that's read the story and thought it was gone, i had a little trouble with my computor, but i got all fixed now. Enjoy!**

He pounded on the walls of his enclosed prison. He wanted out. He pounded over and over again on its walls until the whole room shook. He was getting stronger. He searched around the mind he was in for the time of day. It was night…which means it had been exactly a week. His hand transformed slowly and painfully to a 2-D form that was transparent. He slipped it through the solid head that was containing him. He could feel the outside, and it felt like freedom. Pain suddenly shot up his arm and he yanked his hand back inside.

_I will get out of here human… I'm getting stronger and I've been called… I know now that the end of Shayera Hol and the rest of the Justice League is near………._

_/JL\_

Shayera flew quickly around the corner into the dark Gotham alley following the splashes of footsteps in the puddles.

"Batman, are you still on? Did you and John get anything yet?" She said as she turned another sharp corner with her mace in her hand.

"Batman's got the information on the guy, just keep following him, the man's dangerous so I'm coming as your backup." John's voice came through her comm. link into her ear. _Oh great! That's the last thing I need!_

"Fine John, but aren't we suppose to practice leading with other members of the team?" After saying this she realized that it would probably be easier to catch this man without any less trained leaguers then with the Green Lantern. "But it doesn't matter, I'll see you in a couple minutes." She quickly shut off her comm. link so that she could further concentrate and to cut off any responses.

The noise of the footsteps had stopped directly in the next alley. As she turned the corner she stopped and realized why. There were ladders up to the roof of a construction building where the criminal must have gone. She took one more look around to see if there were any other exits and saw the Green Lantern turn the corner.

"He went up there," She pointed towards the ladders and the roof. "If we don't follow now we may never catch him." He nodded and they both flew over the top of the building and saw him. He was five buildings ahead and was running at a fast speed.

"The man's got a murder record, and is said to be highly dangerous."

"Ok great. Did you get any background on him?"

"He grew up just outside of Gotham and when he couldn't get enough money to keep himself in good shape, he moved into Gotham in search of a job. No one would hire him, so when a bunch of thugs offered him a job as a hit man, he agreed. Shortly after his first couple murders he was caught and arrested."

"So, he escaped out of prison before his death sentence would be carried out and is after the people who hired him in the first place, who, let me guess, are the people that convicted him of murder and sent him to jail am I right?" John nodded. "Sounds like our typical guy."

"Exactly." They were gaining on him now, but Shayera couldn't help but ask something.

"Then why are you so worried?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You said you were going to be my back up because you said the man was dangerous…and you yourself just said that it was a typical guy, so why come?"

"Well…I, I just wanted-" Shayera cut him off before he could finish.

"John he jumped down there!" They both swooped down into another dark and damp alleyway. _I'm glad that's over, it was probably going to be some stupid made up answer anyway…_

They continued the chase around two corners until they reached a dead end around the escaped convict. The very short and out of breath…14 year old supposed convict. The boy was just a few inches shorter than Shayera, and was wearing what looked like a black skin tight suit with metallic shoes, long smooth like pants, and a slightly tight silver short sleeved smooth shirt over it. He had bright green eyes and red hair almost exactly like Shayera's.

"What? He's just a kid!" Shayera exclaimed obviously annoyed that they either spent this entire time chasing a kid or they'd lost the guy. Green Lantern stepped up to the kid.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

"And why were you running from us?"

The looked at both of them, and without coming up with a good answer, he bolted straight in between them. Shayera was to quick for that though, she grabbed him by his shoulder and held him up.

"Now I want to know what's going on. John do you think he could be connected with the murderer?" John looked at her then turned back to the boy this time with a glare and a straight face.

"Who are you?" John asked the boy. The boy immediately stopped trying to escape and crossed his arms.

"Why would I tell you? For all you know I could lie to you and tell you any name."

"Well now we know that's what your doing." Shayera stated.

"Yea…but then how will you know when I say the real one?" He said with a smile and they both fell silent. They should be more prepared for things like this. Shayera wasn't going to do it the logical way, she pushed him up against the wall.

"Well I can get it out of you." She said with a slight smile.

"Shayera he's just a kid I don't think you should-" They both looked at him with an eyebrow raised. In that moment looking at the two of them John saw something that made his eyes widen. The two of them in this position looked so familiar to each other he'd swear they were related.

"That's right, Shayera, I'm just a kid I shouldn't be getting into this kind of trouble." He said with a smile while the two faced each other again. With those words something clicked in her mind. …_What?_

At that moment the boy dropped something on the ground. Shayera looked down at the object and her eyes went wide. _It can't be!_

She looked back up at the boy, her expression still one of shock. He winked and before they knew it he was beamed into the sky in a burst of light. Leaving Shayera with her mouth slightly open and John wondering what had just happened between those two, in a now windy alley.

**I hope you liked it...please review.**


	2. A Message and a Call for Help

**Hope you like the next chapter and please give me some feedback! I DON'T OWN JUSTICE LEAGUE!**

"Look Shayera whatever it is, we should give it to Batman and let him examine it."

"No, John! Its fine I'll keep it for now. We should get back to the watchtower." John and Shayera stood facing each other staring at each other's glares, with the small device in Shayera's hand.

"No Shayera! It could be dangerous! We should take it to the Batcave."

"You think everything's too dangerous for me don't you! That's all I've been hearing from you, 'its too dangerous, Shayera' or 'you need my help.' I can do things on my own John!"

"All I wanted to do was make sure you were safe!" Their voices were both at a yell now and neither of them was ready to end this just yet.

"Why!?"

"What?" John looked at her confused. She knew why.

"Why do you want me safe John!? Because you love me or because you know that if you don't keep me safe you'll never see that son of yours!"

She stopped and took a couple deep breaths to calm herself. John just stood there quiet and speechless. It had been about a week since he had told her and only a couple days since Darkside's attack and she was finally getting to the point. She stopped yelling, sighed, and spoke quieter.

"John, you know, I really thought you still had feelings for me, but face it, if you did love me…we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?"

The two of them just stood there face to face in an awkward silence. Finally Shayera put a finger to her comm. link and spoke quietly to J'onn.

"Beam us up J'onn…" She sighed this was hurting her just as much as it was hurting him. "We're done here."

The next moment they were beamed up to the Watchtower.

/JL\

Shayera quickly closed her room door behind her and sat on her bed. She dropped the small device on her bed and sat that silently with her head in her hands.

_Oh, John…(sigh)Why does this always happen to us? …My life sucks…_

She laid down on her bed and soon felt something under her wing. She sat up and looked down. It was the device she had seen the boy drop. Her eyes widened, she had completely forgotten about it. She quickly picked it up.

The device was in a square kind of shape with a small black screen in the middle. The screen was only as big as Shayera's thumb and the device fit firmly in her palm. She took a deep breath not knowing what to expect, and placed her thumb on screen. Immediately a big blue holographic screen projected form the black screen. A Thanagarian came on the screen and she gasped. The Thanagarian was a male about the same height as she was and had the same color hair and eyes. She knew this would happen but it wasn't that a Thanagarian was on the screen that shocked her…it was who the Thanagarian was that did the trick.

"Shayera?" The voice came through clearly and tears formed in her eyes.

…_Rhyan?_

The man lowered his head then looked back up at her with a smile. "I know this is probably weird for you to get a message like this…especially after everything that's happened. Anyway me and some of your other…how should I put this…pests, wanted to tell you something. A time may be coming when things will go horribly wrong at your new home, I don't have any details yet, but just know that you can get help from us…I'll always be here for you Shayera. . . . I still love you Shayera no matter what's happened . . . .Rhyan out." The screen collapsed back into the device and her room became silent again.

Tears ran down her cheeks as she stared at the device with wide eyes not knowing what to think. She laid back on her bed and let the tears flow until she cried herself to sleep.

/JL\

"…Hmm, this is strange." Batman stared at his Bat computer which was now showing a large map of the world, where three small tremors had been occurring: Gobi dessert, Egypt, and Midway City.

"Has Flash actually showed up on time for something, Sir?"

"No, Alfred. Look at these tremors…they're occurring at exactly the same time."

"Yes…very peculiar." Alfred said as he continued to dust up the Batcave, which by his standards seemed to always be dusty.

"Alfred its not just the tremors I'm worried about…it's what connects all these places together." Bruce said with a stoic expression on his face in deep thought. Alfred looked up at the screen and at the three locations for a minute and realized the connection.

"You don't honestly think she caused all of these do you, Master Bruce?" Bruce Wayne looked back up at the screen then turned to Alfred.

"I don't know…but Shayera definitely has something to do with it." At that moment, as if on cue, the Green Lantern's voice came through his comm. link.

"Bruce, I just got a call from Carter's girlfriend. She said something's happened to him and that we need to get over there right away.

"Fine, I'll meet you at the Midway museum. You go and get Shayera and bring her as well, she might be useful." John was silent then finally spoke.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why?"

"Why! Don't ask me why I know you heard our argument last night!"

"I did, but right now it doesn't matter. If you don't talk to her now you'll never end up talking to her. Now go we need to get there as soon as possible. Batman out." Batman jumped into the Batmobile and drove off towards Midway City.

/JL\

_Bruce you are completely out of your mind!…_ John walked down the hall of the Watchtower and went into one of the elevators. It was around 4:30 in the morning, light enough for everyone on the tower to be awake (since the sun never set out in space) and just dark enough for the Bat to be out. I

In a couple of minutes he was off the elevator and walking towards Shayera's room. He really didn't want to get into another conversation like they had last night. Her words had kept him up all night…why did he really do things like that…but hadn't he always done that for her?

Finally he reached her door and took a deep breath. John knocked on her door a couple of times and waited for an answer.

On the inside of the room Shayera laid on her bed exhausted and asleep…but not a very good one in the least. She had more nightmares in that one night then all the others…which is a lot for her. And now, when she had finally calmed down enough to let her body relax, John was here to wake her up. He knocked a few more times and she finally opened her eyes. They were red along with her face from the long cry she had the night before. She sighed and stretched. _Can't they ever let me rest a bit…but I have to admit being awake is a lot better then sleeping now a days…_

Shayera finally sat up in bed, and answered to the sound at the door.

"What is it?" She said grumpily.

"Shayera, it's John…" _Oh no…the Rhyan thing's enough for me to get over, don't make this any worse. _With that thought a new somber attitude to her day.

"Carter's been hurt and we need to head over to the museum right away." _Carter?…that's strange, not to mention a little random._

"John, if you think me and him are-"

"No, I know you aren't, but we still need to head over there. Batman said that you would be useful there."

Still talking from behind the closed door she answered, "Fine give me a minute."

"Ok, but hurry." _I wonder why Batman wants me…I know he knows that Carter and I aren't together…so what would I do to help._

She quickly rinsed off her face and tried as much as she could to cool her face down to make it any less red. Finally when she was satisfied, she grabbed her mace and left the room.

She stood next to John now and he looked at her.

"Well, shouldn't we be going?"

"Oh…yea lets go." John was glad she hadn't brought up anything of last night, not knowing that Shayera had other things on her mind lately.

The two of them flew down the hall towards the elevator. As soon as they were in it Shayera spoke.

"So, what's wrong with Carter?"

"I don't know." John shrugged still keeping his straight face. Shayera raised an eyebrow.

"Then how do you know he's hurt?"

"Well, um, his, uh," He hesitated. "girlfriend called me."

"Oh yea, Hannah, right? She's not so bad." Shayera said with a shrug, showing that she didn't mind.

"Wait, so you don't have any problem with his new girlfriend?" Shayera glared at him.

"If by new you mean that I was his last girlfriend then your wrong…it was one date! Here its like you go on one date with a guy and people think your married to him!" She raised her arms slightly in exclamation then crossed her arms. "Besides, I'm glad he's finally found someone that doesn't think he's crazy. I'm happy for them, their really good together."

"Ok, I got it, and your right they are good together. I'm glad he's given up on the whole stalker business anyway." Shayera nodded and was about to ad a comment like 'only because you were jealous' but wasn't in the mood and just looked ahead. John who was expecting a comment like that but instead got silence, was confused and was starting to wonder of she was okay.

They reached the transport floor of the Watcher and flew towards the transporters to get sent to Midway City, both of them deep within their own thoughts.

**thanks for reading please review and tell me what you think! 3rd chapter may be coming soon!**


	3. Carter's Find

**Again I DON'T OWN JUSTICE LEAGUE! thanks for those of you that reviewed...now enjoy the third chapter!**

Shayera and John now stood in front of the Midway City Historical Museum where Carter worked, and what they found troubled them. There were a couple ambulances and a police car out front…and of course a Batmobile in the back. Coming from the building was Carter on a stretcher being led towards an ambulance, followed by Batman. Shayera immediately rushed up to Batman and the stretcher followed by John only a step behind.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked with a worried expression on her face.

"He has a very bad concussion, and he's been in a coma for almost an hour now, or at least that's what I can gather so far." He then looked to the nurse and raised a hand. "Hold on." The three of them walked up to him and stood beside Hannah who was also standing there. She had tears in her eyes.

"Hannah? I'm Shayera Hol." She shook hands with the woman.

"Yes, I've heard much about you." _Uh oh…_

"Yea?" Shayera said and saw the expression in the woman's face, she was scared and sad, she obviously didn't want to loose him. "Look, I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner…but I promise you we'll help him as best we can." She said reassuringly.

"Thank you." Hannah replied with a slight smile. John watched and a small smile of his own came on his face…that was one of the reasons he had fallen in love with her. He soon shook it off and turned to Batman.

"How bad is it?"

"Hmm…pretty bad, there's no telling how long the coma will last."

"Do we know what caused it yet?" Shayera added in. Batman shook his head.

"No. He has a bump on his head from the concussion…but its no ordinary concussion. Have a look." Batman pulled back the bandaging around Carter's forehead to reveal a large round hump on it.

"It doesn't look that unusual to me."

"No, but there are a few properties to it that would lead me to believe that…something from the inside did this…possibly to get out." Shayera and John just stared at him.

"Wait, wait…are you talking about Shadow Thief?" John whispered to Batman a little shocked.

"It's possible."

"But how? I thought he was gone?" Shayera said louder than necessary, again she had a lot on her mind at the moment.

"I said it was possible. It could be that Carter only trapped him inside his mind." Batman said with a glare that meant quiet down.

"So you think that's the reason for his injury?" John added in as Shayera listened.

"I don't know, but I do know that we need to figure this out, I have a feeling that this is only the beginning of our problems."

"Fine, then where-" Shayera was cut off by a small tremor passing. Both she and GL looked at Batman. "What was that?"

"A slight tremor…Do you know anything about these?" Batman asked questionably as he gave her his 'bat-glare.'

"What do you mean? Why would I know anything about this I didn't even know there where any tremors in Midway City!" She said using moving her arms and hands in exclamation as she talked.

"These tremors are getting larger by the hour and they occur at the exact same time in three separate location…here, Egypt, and the Gobi Dessert." She was a bit surprised at first but only for half a second as anger replaced it.

"What are you trying to say, that I caused those tremors!? I've been right here with you how am I suppose to do that, they're in three separate places around the world!"

"It can be done." Batman said still keeping his straight emotionless face and stoic voice.

"Stop it! Both of you!" They both turned to look at John who had just spoken. "Both of you need to stop it right now! Batman, I realize that Shayera seems like the only connection but you can't just jump to conclusions!"

"Exactly! Look, Batman, I know you don't trust me just like the rest of the world, but I seriously have no idea what is going on." _Why is John even on my side? _Shayera and Batman kept up their staring contest for another minute until the Green Lantern interrupted.

"This isn't the time for this! We need to get back to the problem at hand. Carter's injury remember?" He said in his normal determined military way. They finally both turned to him and nodded.

"Fine, then where do we begin?" Shayera said as she tried to calm down and focus on the situation.

"Excuse me, maybe I can help." Hannah piped up and they all turned to her. "Last night when Carter and I were going to lock up his office and the museum , he said he wanted to stay a while longer and study something he found the other day. At first I didn't comply because he'd been having strange headaches lately, but finally I agreed. When I came back in the morning…" She stopped with tears in her eyes again.

"Do you have any idea what he was studying?" Shayera said trying to sound as sympathetic and reassuring as possible as she did with most citizens that needed her help for something like this.

"Yes, come, I'll show you." She nodded and led them inside the museum,. As they walked towards his office she spoke to them again. "Before I became carter's girlfriend, I was his secretary, I still am, and I have access to all his findings. He was most interested in Ancient Egyptian and Thanagarian Artifacts which of course went with his whole Hawkman thing." The three Justice League stopped.

"You know about his identity then?" Shayera whispered to Hannah.

"Like I said…I have access to _all_, his findings." She said with a slight smile on her face, the other three just nodded in response. "Anyway, as I was saying, he was interested in Thanagarian Artifacts, and when he found this piece in Midway…well he just had to examine it. I remember him saying that it wasn't quite Thanagarian, but maybe you can make it out Shayera."

"I guess we'll see." As she said this Hannah opened a door to their right and the four of them walked inside a small office.

Hannah closed the door behind her and walked over to the desk. She picked up a small almost square object off the table. As she brought it closer it looked much like a thin blackened metal panel.

"Here." Hannah said quietly as she dropped the heavy object into Shayera's hands.

As soon as it went into her hands, John and Batman stepped nearer to her to look at the device. The minute Shayera looked at the strange carvings on the panel, her eyes went wide and she dropped it, almost on her feet, with her mouth wide open, in complete shock. She had her eyes fixed on the metal panel. _No…It can't be…_

"Shayera, what's wrong?" John asked almost with a hint of worry in his voice. Batman quickly picked up the panel with his gloved hands and brought it away from her incase it had any sort of power over her, like kryptonite to Superman.

She turned to face him and the others. She looked at him straight in the eyes allowing him to see, only for a moment, the fear in her eyes.

"That's not Thanagarian, John,…it's Gordanian…"

**OH Cliff hanger! okay well please review and tell me what you thought of it.**


	4. Glythophorbicothem

**Sorry about the long wait. and thank you for reviewing keep it up! oh and i don't own justice league (that's starting to get old) Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Batman and Green Lantern were silent. Shayera tried to calm down, as far as she knew she hadn't seen a live Gordanian since she came to earth almost eight years ago. This wasn't the time to start seeing them again. Finally Green Lantern broke the silence.

"That doesn't make any sense. Why would there be Gordanian markings here? According to Carter there were only Thanagarians on earth and all of those artifacts were confined to Egypt." Shayera nodded then took a deep breath.

"It's not an artifact." All three of the people in Carter's office looked at her confused and waiting for an answer, but as Batman looked at the panel in his hand, he knew what was coming. "That's new technology…at the most it's only one or two years old possibly three…but it could have been on earth only for a couple years."

"Or a couple weeks, the technology may be that new but it could have been placed on earth any time in the past couple years…even recently." Batman added.

"So your saying that there could be Gordanians on earth right now?" John asked Batman and Shayera.

"Possibly, but the message on the panel may give us some kind of clue. What did it say Shayera?" Shayera looked at Batman with her usual mask of fake emotions. Though she didn't show it she was scared but most of all worried.

"That's what I'm worried about…It says," She closed her eyes trying to hide the fear in them. Only a couple seconds later when she felt as though it couldn't be seen, she opened her eyes. "Beware the end of all you know."

/JL\

Green Lantern and Shayera Hol followed the Batmobile by air towards Midway Cities main park where Hannah had told them the Gordanian message had been found.

Gordanians were one thing that Shayera couldn't stand. As she flew she stared at the ground and remembered all her encounters with them. She remembered how they had invaded her world over and over again using every chance they got to terrorize her people. They killed men, women, and children leaving blood in the streets. She remembered the devastation she saw when she once came upon a Gordanian massacre. She looked down at the people going to an early day at work. There were young and old couples holding hands, and mothers with their baby cribs. She remembered Hro, when she had helped him escape from the Gordanian prison…the look on his face made her heart break. She turned her head and looked at John who was flying beside her. As she looked at him worried determined face, she thought about all the things the Gordanian's would do to these people how they would put them in their prisons and massacre their cities. As she thought about this she thought about how John's face would look if he was ever put into a Gordanian prison. She shivered and shook it off. She hated Gordanian's. The last thing that kept running through her head was the look on her mother's face every time she brought up……no, she wouldn't go there. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried her hardest to focus. She shook her head. She wouldn't let them do those things to Earth, no matter what she had to do, she wouldn't let them.

"Shayera?" She turned her head to see John still flying beside her. "Are you alright?" She silently nodded, but didn't turn to show her face. _Why is he interested in what I'm feeling anyway?_ She was about to make a comment about it when Batman's voice interrupted their thoughts.

"You need to land near the middle of the park…and be careful my readings say that the tremors are most strong in this area." His voice came strong and clear from the com. links in their ears. Both John and Shayera responded with an "Okay." and headed downward towards the middle of the large grassy field.

As soon as they landed Batman came over to join them. His long black cape dragged against the ground but never made a sound. In his hand he carried a small portable seismograph, invented by Wayne Tech. of course. As he stood next to them he moved the device around determining where the tremors were coming from.

Green Lantern took a whiff of the air expecting to smell the fresh morning air but instead only got an ugly, rotten smell. "What's that smell, it's horrible?"

"Trash, I would expect. Just because Midway City passed a new recycling law doesn't mean everyone's going to follow it. We should be concentrating on this right now." Batman commented and John nodded.

"Hannah said that the place where Carter found the message is marked with a circle of rocks behind a small bush." Green Lantern reminded them as they continued to look around for any sign of a clue. Shayera poke around with her mace for a minute when she spotted a small rounded shape bush, just curved the right way to block the space behind it. She walked over and pushed the bush to the side, revealing a circle of rocks with a dug up spot in the middle.

"I found it. It's over here." Shayera called to the other two and they soon were standing beside her. She leaned over to examine the whole. "It doesn't look to deep, which means it hadn't been here long enough for it to be deep in the ground."

"What does the seismograph say Batman?" Green Lantern asked after he had a look at the whole. Batman walked over to the whole holding the seismograph in his hand, he then turned to face the right and shook his head.

"The source emanating the tremors seems to be only a couple feet away and spreads out in a circle ahead of us. The center of the circle is the exact point where the tremors coming from Midway begin."

"Well, then I guess we should see exactly what's hidden here under the dirt." Green Lantern started to make a green shovel.

At that exact moment Shayera finally recognized the scent. _That's not trash…and that's not dirt either!_

"John don't-" It was too late the tip of the green shovel of light from the Green Lantern's ring touched the soft dirt. "Everyone get down!" Were the last words Shayera was able to shout out before a large explosion went off throwing the three heroes back.

/JL\

"Shayera?….Shayera!" She groaned and opened her eyes to see John and Batman standing over her.

"Shayera, are you alright?" John asked with a worried expression on his face. She nodded then sat up slowly and shook the fog out of her mind.

"I'm fine. Besides I should be the one asking if your alright, you were nearest to the explosion." She replied curtly.

"Well thanks to you I was able to put a shield up in time, and Batman had his fire proof cape. I was worried, you didn't have anything to protect you from the blast." He replied to her response.

_Worried?_ "Well I'm fine and you?" She asked turning her head towards Batman, he gave a nod in response.

"What was that?" He asked trying to anticipate her answer. She walked up to where Green Lantern had attempted to dig. Shayera crouched down beside the dirt and took one whiff of the area, she soon closed her eyes and turned her head away from the putrid smell.

"Glythophorbic-othem." She replied to them as she turned around to face her comrades. Both of them just stared at her with an eyebrow raised in apprehension waiting for her to explain. She let out an exasperated sigh. "It's an element found and developed on Gordan. The Gordanians normally use it to protect or hide something they don't want anyone to find, but being it lets off too strong of an odor. They are able to lessen the odor enough so that it wouldn't be too easily spotted, but it still smells horrible. It's sensitive to anything but their skin and a few of their planet's own minerals. The one good thing about it though is that it only works together in pockets."

"Pockets? So, there could be regular dirt mixed in with it?" John replied. Shayera nodded.

"That's the only way it wouldn't react to the Earth's dirt."

"Then there is a possible way through it." Batman stated examining the ground.

"Yes…" She sniffed the air again. "But it would be almost impossible."

"Why do you say that?" John asked looked up from the dirt.

"Because, by the smell of it…There's about 400 tons of Glythophorbic-othem right here." All three of them turned to look towards the area where they had first encountered the stuff.

"We need to mark the area. I'm guessing that the seismic circle I detected early could be the area of the element." Batman said as he pulled out the seismograph. "You two will have to mark out the area as I tell it to you." They nodded and soon begun their work.

/JL\

The circle they had just marked out with a small ditch and police tape was about two elephants wide and estimated to be about two elephants deep. Batman looked to the sky the sun was getting brighter, he told the others that he was going to put together a meeting for tonight and left in a rush.

"I'll tell the police commissioner of Midway City about this spot and make sure he keeps the people away from it." Green Lantern told Shayera as they stood at the edge of the circle examining it.

"What I'm wondering is why no one ever stepped on it before we found it."

"Why would they? With this smell who would want to relax at the park." Shayera only gave a "Mm hmm." and crouched next to the ring to take a closer look. She reached her hand over the area as if to touch it.

"What are you doing?!" John grabbed her hand and pulled it back.

"Calm down, John, I won't touch it…not without armor anyway." She said with a smirk.

"Are you crazy you would get blown to pieces!"

"Not with Nth armor I won't. Nth metal is one of the few things that won't make this stuff go off." His face relaxed and his expression turned ot one of apprehension.

"So, you wouldn't get hurt if you had your armor on."

"No, I didn't say that. I said I wouldn't set it off. This stuff reacts to Nth metal differently. It melts the metal like it was acid." He nodded with his eyebrow raised.

"So you would be crazy enough to try and fine the dirt pockets while risking the chance that you would get fried?" She quietly sighed then turned back towards the ring of death.

"I would risk anything to stop whatever Gordanian plot is hidden under that dirt."

**please review! tell me how i did! I'm going on vacation for the next couple weeks and probably won't have time to update, but I'll try to fit in some fanfic time! Thank You Guys!**


	5. Preparations and Discoveries

**Hey! Guess I was able to fit in some writing time during my vacation after all, but it's a short chapter sorry about that I'll make the next one longer. Thanks for ur reviews again.**

**p.s.- i don't own Justice League**

Shayera sat at the conference table with her head resting on her hand as she listened to Batman explain the things they had found that morning to the rest of the original members.

"Are you saying there's a possibility of another invasion? We're still recovering from the attack from Darkside." Superman brought up as soon as Batman had finished.

"I don't think we would be able to handle any large scale attacks. The Watchtower and Metrotower are in good conditions but most of the Leaguers are still recovering." J'onn informed them.

"How do we even know if it is the Gordanians that will invade earth?" Wonder Woman stated, at times like these there was no question that she was raised as a warrior.

"What do you mean? Batman already told you the evidence." Green Lantern replied, but soon regretted his questioning. Diana glanced at Shayera before continuing slowly.

"I'm only pointing out that the last time something from the Gordanians came to earth it was a trick. The Thanagarians could be behind this again." Shayera sat up straight from her position and glared at Diana.

"What are you saying? That I'm behind all this!" She replied with her anger starting to rise.

"Whoa, whoa! Hey no one's blaming anyone right now, okay. Both of you need to stop. Shayera wouldn't even know if the Thanagarians would be attacking again anyway, besides I thought you two were good again." Flash said as he tried to calm the two woman of the Justice League down before the entire tower became a battlefield for the two of them.

"So did I, until now." Shayera said crossing her arms over her chest.

"I wasn't blaming anyone. I never said Shayera was behind it, I'm just making a point that the Thanagarians attacking might be a possibility, that's all." Diana replied and both she and Shayera exchanged glances. Shayera gave a quick and quiet nod showing that she accepted the answer. She knew that a couple of them were thinking the same things as Diana and she didn't blame her for bringing it up. For a moment Shayera almost thought of the possibility herself, but quickly dismissed it knowing that they weren't able to do anything with the Gordanians in control of her planet.

"Good. Now back to the Gordanian thing. I saw that Gordanian back at the Thanagarian Invasion and if that's what they look like I bet we could take 'em." Wally said with a wide grin, but Shayera only returned it with a sad shake of her head. She sighed.

"The Gordanian you saw was a young weak one. Gordanians are almost twice that size in strength and in height."

"Then we need to start taking action now if we're to get anything done. This is what I've planned for us to do…" Batman continued on explaining what they would do to fortify and prepare for a possible invasion. He and Wonder Woman would look into the tremors and try to figure out exactly when the next ones will strike. Superman would work on the Metrotower fortifying it and adding the necessary changes, the Martian would do the same for the Watchtower. Green Lantern and Flash were to help out with the cities and towns being affected by the rapidly growing tremors. And Shayera was to check out the other two locations to see for anymore Gordanian clues and update Batman on what she knew. They weren't about to let another invasion catch them off guard.

/JL\

Shayera held up her energized mace as she walked through the underground Egyptian tombs. This use to be Carter's work site, now it was only a tunnel filled with broken and crumbling artifacts, most of them buried to deep to retrieve without some major equipment. As she held up her mace to shine more light up higher, the light shone on a part of an old Egyptian pillar. She sighed, being here brought back too many creepy theories of reincarnation Carter insisted on. And following those memories came the one at the watchtower, the one that followed her last incident with Carter. She could still hear John's confused voice as he told her about their future son, but some words kept ringing in her head.

"_I won't be destinies puppet, Shayera"_

Shayera glared at the floor as she continued walking. She remembered how he chose to stay with Mari, breaking her heart even more than he had already. _How could he say that! He said we would make our own choices to that destiny! I know he wants that life as much as I do! . . .he's just to stupid to figure out that he's not making those choices. . . _Shayera sighed again, she knew they probably would never end up with a family together, no matter what the future said. But something between them made her want him. She didn't want to be with anyone but John, she loved him too much. She shook her head trying to forget about it for the moment and focus on the task at hand.

Shayera looked up and stopped just in time. One more step and she would have been blown up by an explosion then buried under the debris. A horrid smell reached her nose and she knew not to take anymore steps. She looked out in front of her and almost laughed. Gordanians can be smart when it comes to weaponry and strategy but in anything else they were just plain stupid. Shayera could tell exactly where the circle of Glythophorbic-othem was. The Gordanians unknowingly had marked out the exact spot. Having to move all the rocks and crumbled artifacts, they had left a perfect circle of plain dirt to mark it. Not only that but the walls and rocks all around it were charcoaled from when things had crumbled and fallen on the element causing it to explode.

"Batman, I found the spot." Shayera said with her finger on her comm. link.

"Good, how does it look?"

"It looks about the same as the other one. The same size, same amount…same everything."

"Was it hard to find?"

"No, not really, Gordanians are pretty dumb when it comes to covering up evidence. This spot is the only spot that is clear, everything else has some debris from either the cave-in almost a year ago or the continuing tremors." She answered then her eyes went wide at what she realized about what she had just said. "That means they would have come in the past year."

"Sooner then that. No doubt they came just before the tremors began."

"Bruce how long has it been since the tremors started?" She said quickly as she started out the way she had came.

"About four days now, and with each hour they get larger and larger. Which means you need to get out of that tunnel there's one coming up right now."

"I'm almost out of the tunnels. I'll contact you later, Shayera out." She ended the conversation as she quickly flew out of the hole to the surface of the Egyptian desert. Just as she landed, the ground shook and she could hear crumbling and what sounded like explosives coming from underneath. It soon passed but Shayera thought it had lasted longer than the last one.

After the dust and sand settled she peered into the hole. When she decided that it was safe to go back she lowered herself into it to have a look at the damage. Everything was out of sorts, the entire tunnel was damaged and had shifted a little to the right. She squinted to see through the dust and dirt in the air around her. Still holding her mace to light the way a shimmer caught her eye. Shayera walked over to see what was reflecting the light from her mace. After dusting some dirt and moving a couple rocks, she saw what it was and it gave her an idea. A sly smile came on her face as she picked up her prize and headed out towards the surface.

**Well, i can't wait to write the next ch. and update it shouldn't be too long. please review!**


	6. Let It Begin

**Finally here's the next chapter! I think this one's a lot longer than the others and a lot better than the last one. Hope you enjoy.**

Green Lantern hovered above Midway City looking out over the city. The tremors had gotten larger by the hour, the last one had caused some damage in the park and around it. The thing that was now bothering John, was that not a tremor had occurred in the past three hours. There should have been three already, and neither him nor Batman and the others couldn't figure it out. As he watched the other Leaguers that he was put in charge of for this particular assignment his mind drifted off. He was thinking about Shayera…again. Things had been so different between them since the Thanagarian invasion, and things were only getting worse since he told her about their son and that he was staying with Vixen. He sometimes even thought, he had made a mistake in staying with Mari. John sighed and looked toward the East where Shayera was checking out the other tremor sites. What she had said only three nights ago still rang in his head.

"_Why do you want me safe John!? Because you love me or because you know that if you don't keep me safe you'll never see that son of yours!"  
_"_John, you know, I really thought you still had feelings for me, but face it, if you did love me…we wouldn't be having this conversation, would we?"_

Of course he loved her! Didn't he? These thoughts and similar ones ran through his head as he considered what she could have meant. So deep in his thoughts, he didn't even notice Batman trying to reach him. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts, but it was to late to hear the warning.

The dogs began to howl.

The ground rumbled pulling everyone to the floor. Citizens right and left fell to the ground both in fear and the fact that their whole world was shaking and crashing down. As the rode and concrete split, cars swerved crashing into each other. Buildings began to shake and tumble. A ripple of destruction spread out from the center of the Midway City Park. As the disaster of an unpredictable dangerous earthquake began the Justice League went into action. There was no time for John to worry of his relationships now, but one last thought crossed his mind. He hoped Shayera was safe.

/JL\  
(30 min. earlier)

"What exactly am I doin' here again, Hawk-, Shayera?" Vigilante stood next to Shayera Hol near the middle of a crater in the Gobi Desert…holding a rope.

"I need your help. Your going to hold that rope which will be tied to my waist. Then I'm going to," She grunted as she pulled on a golden Nth metal boot that she had found in the tunnels of Egypt. "walk out onto the Glythophorbic-othem using these, to find the dirt pockets. If the acid-like dirt burns through the boot or anything other than the metal touches it, and it goes off in an explosion, I'll need you to pull me out before I get fried." He opened his mouth to ask something but she answered it before he could say anything. "And no I couldn't fly out, I wouldn't be fast enough." He crossed his arms.

"Then why me?" He asked skeptically with his eyes glaring at her for answers.

"Because anyone on the original team would say it was too dangerous, and you wouldn't care if I died, you wouldn't be blamed for it anyway. Now let's do this."

"Now hold on a minute." He lifted his hand to say stop and dropped the rope. "I ain't gonna let you, go on doin' some kind of suicide feat, either."

"Look, I need to do this to figure out what's under there." She lowered her voice. "Besides, my life isn't worth anything anymore anyway, what's to loose?"

"Didn't we go through this already back there on that moon! I Ain't gonna let you do it!"

"Vigilante this isn't about that!" She sighed. "I need to do this, I can't sit around and do nothing when the people who I hate the most are coming to attack! They've already taken Thangar, you know that, you were there when we heard it. I'm not going to let them take earth either. I've risked my life before…now I'm going to do it with or without your help." She lifted her armored foot over the circle, but before she was able to put her foot down, he interrupted.

"Now hold on…Fine, I'll do it, but even the slightest chance of it goin' off I'm pullin' ya' back." He picked up the rope holding it tightly, then quietly, mostly to himself he spoke again. "Dang it, that hard-headed hawk, this is crazier than chasin' a mad starvin' bull through a patch'a dynomite!" She smiled, he was a good guy.

"You ready?" She shouted to him.

"Yep, go on…let's get this thing a'goin'!" She nodded and put her foot down.

With the first step she felt heat immediately and she picked up her foot and moved it a couple more times till she found a safe spot. She did the same with the other and continued on, slowly and cautiously. She was inching her way to the middle of the large circle. After about 20 minutes, she had gotten quite far. Vigilante was still a little bit from the edge of the circle holding the rope tight in his hands ready to pull her back at any moment. Her boots were slowly deteriorating, from having been burned through by the Gordanian element. A few more minutes went by and she was almost to the middle, when things went horribly wrong.

"Shayera!" Batman's voice came through the comm. link in her ear, taking her by surprise, making her loose her balance and nearly fall of the small square of plain dirt she was standing on. Once she had composed herself she answered.

"What?!" She was a little frustrated with his interruption.

"You need to get out of there now!"

"What? Why-" She was caught off by a rumble, and her eyes went wide. "Vigilante!" She turned her head and yelled toward the hero.

Vigilante immediately, without the slightest hesitation, yanked the rope, pulling with all the strength he could muster to get her as close to his position as possible. Shayera was jerked to where he was standing, getting the wind knocked out of her. They both fell over as the rumbling got larger and the ground rippled with the power of an earthquake. She took in a deep breath and started to get up. The ground began to split causing the sides of the crater to move in an avalanche of sand, but this wasn't the only thing that the two noticed. Coming from the center of the death circle, a dark misty cloud flowed out of the sand.

The cloud was like the smoke of a fog machine, but much more black and thick, like a storm cloud on the ground. It rippled, with the rumbles of the earthquake, across the dirt towards them.

Shayera got up quickly and, while struggling to stay balanced, was able to grab Vigilante's shoulders as she took off with a great thrust of her wings. She looked straight up into what seemed like storm clouds forming and continued to pull herself farther and farther up. Finally she stopped and looked down. Just as she did she saw the crater come together in a clash of sand…and darkness. Dirt clouds scattered the sky as she flew her and Vigilante to the West farther from the disaster.

"Woo wee! That was a close one, weren't it!" She looked down to see Vigilante staring at the ground. She knew if she could see his face he'd have a big grin and wide eyes filled with excitement. She had needed some as well, but now things began to trouble her more.

"We should head back to the watchtower and see what's going on." He nodded in agreement and lifted his finger to his ear to operate his comm. link.

"J'onn, were gonna need a pick up."

/JL\

Shayera and Vigilante appeared on the watchtower transporter panel covered in dirt and sand. Green Lantern and Flash stood waiting for them off of the platform. They made eye contact and the two stepped down in their direction.

"What happened to you guys?" Flash asked as he looked at their dirty apparel.

"We had a little trouble in the dessert." Shayera replied looking at the dirt covering her body.

"Yea, I can see that!" Flash said in a matter-of-fact to tone.

"The earthquake?" John asked with an eyebrow raised in apprehension. Both of them nodded.

"Weren't you suppose to be in control of the Midway disasters?" She asked with concern. He nodded.

"Vixen's got it covered." Shayera nodded and turned to Flash for his answer for why he left his post in Egypt.

"Green Arrow's got my spot, we were needed up here for something, so me and John beamed up real quick. When you didn't show up John suggested we wait to see if you were okay," John gave him a sideways glare showing that Wally had again said to much. He swallowed. "BUT now you're here…So, I'm just gonna zoom up to the observatory deck now. See ya there!" He ran out of the room at super speed to get away from John and left the three standing there.

"You should go clean up Vigilante." He nodded and looked at his shirt.

"Yea, I am a mess aren't I! Ha! At least it ain't mud!" He looked up and turned around to walk towards his quarters.

"One more thing!" She shouted to him, he turned around. She smiled. "Nice tug with that rope." The corner of his bandana lifted to show that there was a smile hidden underneath.

"Thank you. You weren't so bad yourself with those boots…but I still prefer the leather ones."

"See ya." Shayera said and he dipped his hat towards her and left. She turned around to see John looking at her for some answers.

"Boots?" He looked down at her feet to see two golden Nth metal boots. He immediately snapped his head up and looked at her straight in the eyes. "You didn't try to find those dirt pockets, did you?" She was quiet. "Shayera!"

"Now's not the time, John. We need to get up to the observatory deck. I want to know what's going on." He inwardly sighed and nodded. They both flew upward toward the deck. While they were flying John spoke.

"Are you ok?" She turned to look at him. The look in his eyes told her that he was really worried. She gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine John." She sighed. "Let's just get to the others." He nodded.

A couple minutes later they landed on the Observatory Deck. This deck was mainly used for the Leaguers to keep track of what was happening on earth. This was were they had their monitor duties, watching the earth's disasters. At the moment the room seemed empty, since most of the Leaguers were working on preparations. The only people in here at the moment were the Martian Manhunter, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and now Green Lantern and Shayera. The six that had been up here were all staring at a large monitor showing a view of the earth, flat and as a sphere. The two that had just arrived join them, and what they saw made Shayera gasp.

The entire Earth was black. The clouds, if they were clouds, were so thick that the Earth was one giant black ball.

"It doesn't look this bad yet, but if Diana and I are right, in a couple hours this will be a reality. The center of the earthquakes are emitting clouds containing black particles of a goop-like substance. Once the clouds rise, they will burst to release this 'black rain' into the air." Batman said as they all stared at the screen.

"So, it's like the thing those spit people that attacked Mars tried to do to us before?" Flash said looking up from the screen to Batman, but J'onn answered for him.

"No. Unfortunately there is no way to get to the devices that are causing it much like we were able to do then." He said with a worried expression on his face. Wally's shoulders slumped and he turned back to the screen.

"It looks like a giant black marble…" He stated as he looked sadly at the screen.

"No." Shayera said and they all turned to see her saddened face. "It looks like Gordan."

"Then it's for sure the Gordanians?" Diana asked her.

"It has to be. Gordanians are reptilian creatures, and most of the time nocturnal. They like the darkness. The light won't hurt them, but they prefer the dark." She said sternly as she remembered the first time she saw their dark world from a distance.

"This means we can't prevent them from coming." Diana said a little despairingly.

"No, but we can be ready for them. They're going to wish they never crossed paths with us." Superman stood up straight as he spoke encouragement to the group.

"We can't let them take this planet." Shayera said with determination and the others stood straighter and nodded.

John looked around at the others and saw that the determination in their eyes matched his own. "Then let the invasion begin…"

**I hope you liked it please peview and tell me how it went! I'm trying to write these chapters as fast as I can, so I hope it won't be to long before the next one, keep reading!**


	7. It Has Begun

**Hey sorry I haven't updated in a while. Hope you like this chapter. I was actually going to make it longer but I decided it was long enough. Now have fun reading!**

It had been hours of non-stop, sweat-breaking, building and working, and things were finally wrapping up…which brought more bad news. All was left now, was them. As Green Lantern looked back and forth between the new armored Watchtower and the now visible wall of warships lights in the distance, he didn't feel too confident that even all their hard work was going to work. But just as he had when the android came to destroy Earth, he was going to do all he could to stand in the gap between them and his home. He took in a deep breath and headed inside the tower.

John flew towards the Observatory Deck to meet up with the other seven original leaguers, and go over what they needed to have done before the aliens decided to finally show up. Batman had put a time limit on the operation of construction when J'onn had first spotted the large enemy from the distance. He took a look at the clock in the hallway and slowed down as he realized he was early. As he walked around the corner he stopped, at the sight in front of him. It was Shayera.

Shayera Hol stood at the windowsill of the large transparent window at the end of the hall staring out into the distance of space, at the oncoming Gordanians. She had her hands clenched tightly on the sill and her shoulders slumped. As a hand rested on her shoulder, she jumped a little and spun around to see John with a sincere, concerned face starring into her teary eyes. She quickly averted her attention back to what was beyond the window into space, sniffed, blinked the tears that had come to her eyes, and shrugged the hand off her shoulder. He didn't attempt to put it back in place.

"Shayera…Are you okay?" John asked her quietly. She quickly nodded.

"Yea, I'm fine, John." She replied as confidently as she could, he had caught her at a bad time. If it had been any other moment she would have actually believe her own words but now…was not that time. She sighed letting her shoulders sag again. John slowly but confidently placed his hand back on her shoulder softly. She decided to ignore it for the moment, but she wouldn't dare let that soft touch of warmth sink into her shoulder and relax her, she just couldn't do it anymore, after everything that they had said to each other in the past couple weeks…after the invasion. She leaned over resting her elbows on the windowsill and leaned her head over to message her forehead.

"I don't know how I fell right now. I…" She sighed. "But I know I shouldn't be feeling like this. I've fought Gordanians practically all my life, and there had always been wins and losses, that's just what happens…but," She turned to look him in the face. John saw the sadness, fear, and confidence in her eyes all mixing together in confusion. "This isn't a war, John, it's either win…or lose, and I just have this feeling…that it's not going to work out like we think it will."

John sighed softly and took his hand off her shoulder to cross his arms over the windowsill and lean against them. "I know, I feel the same way." He looked out at the warships and scowled. "But I know, speaking for both of us that, that'll never stop us. Whether we feel that way or not, there's another feeling that, at least for me I know, will always overpower any doubt I have. It's the way we feel for the Earth, my home…our home." He gave her a small smile, and she nodded and returned the gesture with a half smile of her own.

/JL\

The seven of them looked at the now completely black globe on the monitor screen. It was depressing really, the people of Earth all locked themselves inside their homes or in storm shelters, by the world's leaders' orders of course. Everything was in place, it was time to begin.

"Is everyone sure that everything was covered?" Batman asked the other six founding members staring at each of them until they gave him an answer. They nodded.

"We're ready." Green Lantern replied putting on his mask of emotions, leaving a straight non-emotional face behind.

"Then I suggest we get to our stations. Shayera, I know you wanted to be on the first group in space, but we think it would be better for your strengths if stay on the second group in the air on Earth with Green Lantern and Wonder Woman." She glared at J'onn for a couple seconds then softened.

"Fine." She replied curtly and straightened, their meeting was coming to an end, which meant the battle was coming to a start.

"Good then and just to go over the J'onn you'll be with me in space and, as you mentioned, John, Diana, and Shayera will be in the air, and Wally and Bruce will be on the ground, agreed?" Everyone again nodded.

"Now let's go over the plan again." Batman stated and everyone tuned in their ears to what he was about to say. Even Flash listened, normally he slept through rehearsal plans, but this time it was no joke. Batman began explaining their plan to avoid the end of the world.

/JL\

Superman and the Martian Manhunter with their army of heroes behind them, saw the enemy coming closer. The Gordanians were speeding up considerably. In fact they were getting so fast that Superman began to wonder if they would ram right through him and the others."

_"J'onn their coming in pretty fast, do you think we'll be able to hold them?"_ Superman asked the Martian, who was on the other side of the large group, by using telepathy.

_"I don't know. They have also reached us much earlier than I expected, but I guess we will just have to see what happens."_ He replied trying to make his voice sound calm inside Superman's mind. He didn't get a reply, which meant Superman had probably detected the worry in his voice.

The Gordanian fleet was very large. It stretched wider and farther than they could see. In the front of the formation there was what looked like a thin line of scout ships. On the far right and left behind that line were rows of intergalactic warships and on the inner right and left was a smaller group of some kind of transport ships and ground machines. But the most terrifying, was the large command ship in the center. It was half the size of the watchtower but it had enough weaponry on it alone to destroy an entire planet. All of this came towards the Justice League at a terrifying speed, but as they got closer and closer they began to slow down. Soon they were not very far from them at all. Just when Superman was about to give the order, they stopped abruptly right in front of Superman himself. The scout ships parted to let the command ship scoot forward to the front. Everything became silent. Not one person, creature, weapon, or machine moved. Finally the silence was broken by the last thing anyone expected.

"Humans!" A loud booming voice came from the command ship's speaker. "Who is the leader of this guard?" It continued. Superman hesitated until J'onn gave him the 'okay' then he spoke.

"My name is Superman. I am the leader of this group here. Who are you and what are you doing here?" He said loudly, confidently and unwavering.

"I am the Gordanian commander of this fleet and I wish to speak with the so called Justice League and possibly some of the Earth's leaders. May only, my scouts and my command ship land on your planet? And if it makes you feel better," There was a loud droning and mechanical sound as all the ships weapons began to shut down and fall to the side, off of any target. "I will turn off all my weapons…is it a deal?"

"Give me a minute to decide." Superman replied calmly.

The Leaguers whispered and glanced at each other. Superman put his finger to his ear and turned on his comm. Link.

"What do you think should we let them pass?" He spoke to the seven, all of the Leaguers had heard the conversation from their comm. links, now it was time to make a decision.

"No I don't trust them, if anything we should just blast them now." Shayera replied curtly and furiously.

"We can't attack them first. We need to avoid any attack from them, but if we attack first then we're sure to start a war." Diana said and counteracted Shayera's suggestion.

"But we have to do something, we can't just stand here and wait for something to happen on it's own!" Green Lantern butted in.

"Wow, you should really listen to your own advice sometime…" Shayera mumbled but John heard her.

"What?" He replied confused.

"Never mind, John. J'onn what do you think about letting them in?" She said quickly getting the subject back on track.

"I'm not sure. They weapons are down and it's only the command ship and the scouts. If they decide to trick us and attack Superman and I will be ready." He said, not suggesting or even deciding on a choice just yet.

"Are you saying we should let them come and land on our planet! They already inked us, shouldn't that be considered the first shot!" Flash yelled agreeing completely with Shayera's idea of blasting them out of the universe.

"J'onn's right, their weapons are down, which means their in the weakest position possible. If we let the command ship through we will have closer access to the commander if he decides to attack. If he does one false move we can order our attack before their weapons have time to recharge." Batman said strongly and as if he hadn't heard Flash at all.

"I agree, then we let them through?" Superman asked and got a yes from J'onn, Diana, and Batman, making it the majority vote. Superman turned his head towards the humongous ship in front of him and shouted. "We have decided to let your command ship and your scouts pass through."

"Thank you Superman…I'll be looking forward to talking with these people."

/JL\

The extremely large ship landed on the large park in Metropolis while the scouts remained in the air. The streets were filled with crowds of people, who shouldn't have been there, watching the frightening seen, including all kinds of news. Mothers held their babies and couples held their loved ones.

Superman and the Martian Manhunter had escorted them to this spot and now stood next to their fellow teammates ready for the commander to step out. Batman gave a quick be ready to all League members and waited with his hands beneath his cape. That's when the door opened with steam and all. Out stepped one of the biggest Gordanians Shayera had ever seen in her life. He was twice as muscular and twice as tall as J'onn. He was clad in full body armor, everything include his head had some kind of armory except for his tail, a Gordanian's strongest defense. He walked out of the ship alone and stood in front of the seven.

"So, is this the Justice League I have heard so much about?" The commander spoke, and when he did his voice boomed deeply enough for everyone in the crowds around them to hear and there was a sort of reptilian hiss in his accent, but it was all some how warped in the helmet. Before they could respond they immediately noticed that Shayera had caught the Gordanian's eye and he walked up to her. So, she responded.

"Yes, we are." She said barely being able to hide the hatred in her voice. He nodded.

"Please, come inside, so that I may talk privately with you…if you know what I mean." He said gesturing towards all the people in crowds around the sight. They glanced at each other. Finally Superman nodded and started inside with the others behind him. Batman was last and just before he entered he gave Green Arrow a nod.

Once they all reached the inside they found themselves in a large room. The commander dismissed the others in the room and once the cost was clear he took off his helmet and set in on a small table. Once his helmet was off, the League was surprised to see how old he was. If they had asked Shayera, she would have simply explained that Gordanians get old very quickly yet live for almost the same age as a human, but of course now was not the time for interesting questions. He turned around to face them. Again he was drawn to the Thanagarian, she was standing right and front of him. She moved up a little and came closer. He looked down at her face and she looked up at his. She was small compared to this creature.

"Ah, so the rumors are true. The Justice League does have a…Thanagarian on their team." When he had said the word Thanagarian, he spoke it as if the word put a bad taste in his mouth as he said it. Shayera clenched her teeth.

"And who are you and what are you doing here?"

"The new leader of Gordon and it's, uh,…" He smiled wickedly at her. "…spoils." A small growl escaped her throat and she clenched the mace in her right hand until her knuckles turned white. John and Wally exchanged glances and moved closer to her, John on her right and Wally on her left. He continued. "I see you heard that includes Thanagar. I guess that means you can call me your, mm, how would you say it in human…king?"

"I'm no longer part of the Thanagarian Empire." She barely got the words out of her mouth.

"Oh! So, it's true you are the little traitor herself, Shayera Hol. Well, it's very nice to meet such a great contribute to my kingdom. In fact, that was one of the few things I most wanted to see when I decided to come to Earth. I never thought anyone from such a traitorous race could become such a hero." He smiled wickedly again and now she couldn't take it any longer. She was about to hit him when John and Wally grabbed her arms and held them tightly. She could have easily shook them off but she instead tried to calm herself down. He laughed at the sight.

"I understand Gordanians have a dislike for Thanagarians, but can we get back to your business here?" Diana spoke up trying to change the subject so that Shayera wouldn't have time to blow up.

"I never said I disliked them…in fact I consider them good workers," The leader leaned downward closer towards Shayera's head. "Very good workers." He gave her one last wicked smile and there was a twinkle of joy in his eyes as he watched the warrior tense up ready to pounce. He then quickly straightened up, grasped his hands behind his back, and his face became flat. "But your right, we should be getting back to business. Ask away and I shall answer." Without the others knowledge he slipped his right hand just under the table where three small buttons were. He didn't attempt to push one just yet.

"First of all, why are you here?" Superman asked him, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Just to come and make sure you wouldn't pose a threat to my kingdom." Then quickly, at seeing their expression, added in, "To make sure that you weren't going to attack, there are a lot of planets and galaxies against us. I wanted to know what side you were on." His fingers pushed the buttons but nothing seemed to be happening.

"So you plan to make a treaty?" Batman asked as he stepped forward closer to the creature. This all didn't sound right.

"Possibly, right after I finish one thing of business."

"And, what is that exactly?" J'onn asked him suspiciously, he of course couldn't read his mind and was wishing with every ounce of Martian blood in him that he could.

"…REVENGE!" Before anyone could respond he put his hand on Shayera's throat and yanked her right out of the grasp of her two companions. He held her in the air while he kept a tight grasp on her throat but not quite making the squeeze.

"Put her down now!" John said with rising anger in his voice as he pointed his Oa ring at the Gordanaian's head.

"Uh, uh, uh, if you shoot I squeeze." He said joyful and just to prove his point the tightened his grip around her throat. She could feel her wind pipe being slowly blocked and she gasped for air. John eyes portrayed his worry and he slowly lowered his arm. The Gordanian king loosed his grip only a little and she took in all the air she could get.

Batman tried to call Green Arrow and Superman tried to call Supergirl and Stripe, in space but none of their earpeices seemed to be working.

"Now back to business." He whipped his head around to face Shayera.

Shayera tried to yank off the hands that were obstructing her throat, but with the need to breath she was just to weak. She looked at the monster in front of her. "Why…me?" She said through gasps of air.

"You don't remember? You little excuse of a Thanagarian, Shayera. A disgrace to the Hol name." He had her back and wings pressed against her body so he could hold her still with one arm and choke her with the other. As he said these words a serpent like tongue tickled her cheek. Shayera's eyes went wide.

"Reolc." He laughed at the look of horror on her face when she had finally guessed his name.

"That's right, now it's time to finally pay up, you trash. After years of constant verses between my most hated enemy, I've finally gotten her in my grasp."

"You've…gotten there…before."

"True, but this isn't going to be like those times. This time I know the worse thing I could do to you."

"You're…going to…kill me…right?"

"Not this time, it would be too much of a privilege for you. After you've been stripped of your rank, considered a traitor among your people, and to even be exiled from your own family, and your poor mother." Shayera gasped more than just for air.

"What…did you…do to her?" She tried to shout angrily but it only came out hoarsely. But it was in no way less angry.

"Nothing…not yet anyway. Now back to what I was saying. You've been taken away from all these things and even considered untrustworthy among your friends. So, to end it all now would be to good for you. No, I'm going to wish you never crossed paths with me. I'm going to show you how it feels to loose people close to you, just like you did to me." He eyes became teary from the lack of air and from the pain of memories she had taken so long to run from.

"You…killed…mine, first." She said and a small almost unnoticeable tear ran down her cheek.

"Really, I didn't know." Reolc laughed then turned to the Justice League and a large screen of the people outside. "People of Earth, because of this Thanagarian, Shayera Hol, used to be known to you as Hawkgirl, I will attack your planet and rule it as mine. If I think it isn't pleasing enough to me then I will destroy it. But because she has decided to make this world her own and especially because she decided to stay after the Thanagarians invaded, I decided to come to Earth and kill you." Tears rose in Shayera's eyes, ready to spill over, as she looked at the Leaguers, at John. His face was in shock. On top of that all the people began running, she knew they had heard him. He laughed maniacally. Missiles and guns fired and there were screams all around as people rushed to get into hiding. Reolc shouted.

"It has begun!"

**Please review and tell me what you think! I just started school today so I probably won't update right away, or very quickly either. keep reading though and please give me some feed back, thanks!**


	8. So This is War

**Ok so I've finally updated. Thanks you guys for all the reviews. This chapter's alot longer than the other's but its got the most action, so I hope you like it.**

Without thinking, in one quick movement Flash rushed up behind Reolc and with all the strength he could muster, picked up his tail and yanked it. He roared. Lucky the Flash, was the Flash or he would have gotten his head whacked off by an enormous hammer like tail. When the Gordanian had missed he struck out his empty left fist punching Flash across the room. Since he had stopped holding Shayera up with his left hand he was now holding her up by her throat. Her vision blackened as she felt the last of the oxygen very slowly leave her lungs as she was practically being hanged, but Superman was ready. With Flash distracting Reolc, he shot hot beams from his eyes at the enemy's face causing him to stumble back a couple steps off guard and loosen his grip on Shayera. Now it was the Green Lantern's turn. He shot strong bullets of green light energy at the creature's hand. Catching him off guard he dropped Shayera on the ground. She gasped for air and broke out in a coughing fit.

"Tahss acsektsam!" Roelc shouted for his guards to come and attack. In a moment 20-30 large Gordanians arrived at the scene.

"Great more fatheads!" Flash exclaimed annoyed.

"I suggest we get out of here now." J'onn said in ergency. Roelc pointed to them, uttered another Gordanian word, and the troops began to fire, pouring a shower of laser gunfire on them.

"I agree with you. Let's go." Diana said quickly as she blocked a couple shouts with her magical armored bracelets.

Batman looked around the room for Commander Reolc. He spotted him moving towards the shadows of an open door at the back of the room behind the aliens. He walked backwards with an evil smug grin, he was really loving this. Batman scowled at him then turned towards the others.

"Fine, I'll make cover. Everyone just get out of here and try and meet behind some shelter." Everyone nodded but Shayera.

She had a hand on her chest and one on her throat. Her lungs and throat burned with every breath she took causing her to cough and gasp for more air. John softly picked her up holding her with both arms. She didn't notice, her head was still clouded and she tried to concentrate on breathing evenly again, she felt weak.

Batman threw smoke pellets filling the room with even more fog then it already had. Diana grabbed his shoulders and broke threw the roof. Flash with Superman and the Martian flying right behind him, went out the door, and John with Shayera, half-conscious in his arms, blasted a whole in the wall, coming outside. Once they reached outside the command ship they were met with more than just a few scout ships.

The city, already black as night, was being destroyed. Arriving Gordanians in large carrier ships were beginning to roam the street. Attacking anyone who dared go against him, in other words, the heroes.

"How did all these Gordanians get here?" Diana shouted furiously once they had all went behind a building for shelter.

"The first group?" J'onn turned to Superman and suggested worriedly. His eyes narrowed.

"We have to go and check on the others, they could be hurt." Superman said as placed his spacesuit's helmet back on, ready to go back into space.

"I told you we shouldn't have trusted these creeps!" Flash shouted at the others while pointing at each of the people that had voted for letting him in.

"I didn't know that he would be able to shut off our comm. links. It doesn't make any sense, it's as if there completely dysfunctional." Batman replied to Flash with his teeth clenched as he gave him his regular 'bat glare'.

"Both of you need to calm down, we don't need another argument right now!" Green Lantern shouted at both of them.

It hadn't been too long since Shayera was able to finally breath, but her head had already cleared considerably and she was finally able to breath perfectly fine. She put her hand on her head and groaned.

"John's right…Besides Wally, I think I was the one who said we couldn't trust any Gordanians." She said as she opened her eyes. Now, she finally realized that John was carrying her. "John, you can put me down now."

"Right." He set her on her feet in front of him and he looked her in the eyes. "Are you all right?" He said softly. She nodded, but soon looked away so not to show the sadness in her eyes. The entire world, whether they were going to hear it by the news or by Commander Reolc directly, thought that this was her fault. It was beginning to happen all over again.

"We don't have time for any of this, J'onn and I need to get back to the first group!" Superman stated quickly with a determined expression as he began to take off.

"Wait. I want to know exactly what's going on and I want everyone to know it. So, Shayera, any explanations to what happened back there?" Batman asked her, bringing the attention of the others to what was at hand.

Shayera looked from one to another until she had looked at all six, seeing that they were waiting with their full attention. She clenched her mace in her hand, glared at the ground, and sighed. "On Thanagar, when I was younger, my younger brother and I were taken captive by some Gordanian troops. When we tried to escape, Commander Reolc and his son went after us…My brother risked his life to save me, and was killed by Reolc…Afterwards on my way out, his son and I got into a fight…and he was killed…Reolc and I have been after each other ever since. He's so obsessed with me, he would give up his entire planet to see me suffer." Shayera said sadly. She still remembered the time when her younger brother was killed. When she held him in her arms and cried as his blood covered the ground around them, and had blamed herself for the tragedy for years afterwards. Even now she found herself asking the same question she always had. _Why couldn't it have been me?_ She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see Wally's sad but reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Shy, we'll get him, and we'll get through this." He said softly and widened his usual contagious smile. The corner of her mouth lifted a little and she nodded.

"Wally's right, don't worry about it too much Shayera. We all know how it feels to loose someone one way or another." Superman said to her encouragingly then turned to the others. "Now that's settled, I'm going to head up to the first group."

"So am I, and while I am up there I will check at the watchtower to find out exactly what's wrong with our comm. links." J'onn added.

"That's good. Diana and I will fight our way through to Gotham city and use the Batcomputor to come up with another means of communication." He looked at Diana for her agreement and she nodded.

"Flash, Shayera, and I can stay here and try to get as many people to safety as possible and hold them back as best we can." The Green Lantern said and soon got agreeing nods from both his teammates.

"Good, then were off." Superman said as he took off in the air quickly with the Martian right behind him.

The minute they left their shelter a barrage of gunfire shot towards them. They were able to dodge it, but the others decided to hang back until the fire had ceased. Flash dashed to Batman's side and leaned his back against the buildings wall as they all waited for the rain of bullets to stop.

"So Bats, why is it always you and Diana that get missions together?" Flash said with mischief in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"I need her for this mission because she's good with technology and has the necessary strength to get us through the line of attack towards Gotham." Batman said not looking at Flash's happy countenance and instead deciding to peer around the building for any sign of when those stupid Gordanians would stop firing and let him get away from this conversation.

"Well…Shayera and J'onn both have a lot more experience in techy stuff than Diana and both have enough strength, why not let one of them help you?" He said pressing the subject further. Batman turned and with his teeth clenched and glaring eyes he spoke angrily to his annoying friend.

"Because Shayera and J'onn both have other things to do right now!"

"Alright, alright, I get it." Flash said with his hands up and taking a couple steps back. He then put his hands down and shrugged as he turned around. "I'm just saying. You should be careful Bats…it looks a little suspicious."

Before Batman could respond, Green Lantern interrupted. "Flash, You, Shayera, and I are going out there now, Batman and Diana are last. Now go before they decide to fire again!"

Wally flashed one big grin at Bruce then dashed off into the array of Gordanian menaces, followed by John and Shayera. Bruce inwardly sighed, he didn't have to explain anything to anyone now. The dreaded conversation was finally over. Diana crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder on the side of the building. She smiled and raised an eyebrow as she looked at Batman.

"So, why do you always stick us together, Bruce?"

/JL\

Superman with the Martian just behind him flew to the Javelin they had used to escort Reolc to Earth. They quickly went inside the now beat up ship. Superman tried the engine. There was a sputtering sound and a cloud of smoke following the attempt.

"I'll get working." J'onn said quickly as he phased through the machine to the engine to get it started. A moment later he returned. "It didn't look too bad, try it now. This time it started and Superman soon lifted it into the air.

Once they had reached outside the atmosphere, they were met with a horrifying site. Javelins and heroes left and right floated in the zero gravity of space both crushed and broken. There were some that seemed to be just barely breathing. Others were in the heat of battle against the large warships that Commander Reolc had brought. Lasers from both sides shot around Superman and J'onn's Javelin as they tried to reach the head of the battle. As they came near the Watchtower, they saw one of the largest warships facing it ready to attack. All the new defensive additions to the Watchtower had been either shot off, destroyed, or simply made dysfunctional. Superman looked back and forth between the Javelin controls and the warship, getting an idea.

"J'onn?" Reading the kryptonian's mind a smile came on his face and he nodded.

"Yes, that's a very good idea." He took his place next to the man of steel and got ready for just the right moment. The Javelin coming from underneath the larger ship, was getting closer and closer. Just as the Javelin reached at the highest speed and was but a mile away from the ship, J'onn grasped Superman's shoulder and pulled him through the floor of the Javelin. The ship crashed into the bottom of the large warship causing it to explode. Both J'onn and Superman looked at the lightshow in front of them.

"I'm going to head to the front lines, you should get inside the watchtower and find out what's going on." Superman said to J'onn and he nodded in response. Both went their separate ways to separate roads to the end.

/JL\

(15 minutes later)

"_Captain Atom, have you and the others reached the main engine room?" _J'onn's voice came loud and clear into the Captain's mind.

"_Yes, Sir. We will secure the area and locate the problem as you requested." _He replied mentally with a nod.

"_We need the job done as soon as possible, so get straight to work. I hope to hear from you soon."_

"_Yes Sir!" _Their mental conversation ended and he turned to Steel, Fire, and Booster Gold. It was a small crew for such a big task as checking all the mechanics in the engine room, but it had to be done and frankly, there was no one else available at the moment.

"J'onn wants us to get this job done as fast as possible. We should begin now." He said with his strong non-changing voice, but he had more determination in his eyes than none other in their group.

"I agree. Looking through all of these systems could take hours at the least." Steel said as he looked around the large room surrounded by stairwells to higher machines and hallways and turns leading to other portions of the huge and unbelievable engine that they ran their home on. The room was filled with light yet each piece of machinery cast a shadow on the ground and around them causing the place to seem more dreary than expected.

"Hours! Are you serious!" Booster Gold exclaimed with a look of complete boredom already, and they hadn't even started. His head fell in his hands with despair.

"Cheer up Booster, we can do it!" Skeets said in his normal squeaky, encouraging way.

"Yes, if we start now it won't be long." Fire added in her strong Brazilian accent and a smile to the small encouragement.

"She's right, let's get this started." Steel said while already checking various cords and wires. Captain Atom gave a quick nod and placed his hands on any area and began checking for any signs of escaping energy. Skeets began scanning each of the various parts of the large engine while Fire stayed at the front keeping her eyes and ears open for any intruders. Booster Gold only stood at the back of the group sulking but at least by helping Skeets when he needed it…which wasn't often. Their small group began walking what seemed like long and endless passages, always covering the same areas and in the same positions as they walked. They were unwillingly working to fix something, that they would soon find out, wasn't the only problem in the engine room.

/JL\

Flew in the Batplane while Wonder Woman flew beside him. They went through back alleys and roads normally not taken. The skies and roads were filled with Gordanian ships and soldiers. It was just past sunset, which was the perfect time for the Bat to be out. They were nearly to Gotham now. Bruce had to admit he was a little unnerved about this trip, he felt as though they had been out for all of them since the moment they arrived, he was just to stupid to realize it. He yelled mentally at himself for the frustrating mistake.

He flew around the corner and was met with about five to ten enemy ships. He placed his hands on the triggers of the Batplane ready to send out rockets when needed as Diana flew to battle the attackers. They shot at her, but while dodging she use her bracelets to deflect the blows. She broke through the first ship and with her fist knocked out the engine of another. Batman shot two missiles at the one on the left while she trashed the one on the right. Everything was going fine…

…until he saw the one behind her.

He shouted threw the cockpit's bullet proof covering.

"Diana!"

She couldn't hear him.

The large laser sounded.

It hit her in the back throwing her in the direction of the Batplane.

He opened it and caught her in his arms, pulling her inside before the bullets could strike them.

She wasn't moving.

Was she even breathing?

He was too scared too check.

It was silent…

Too silent…

Then…

….

Movement!

She turned her head and groaned. "Bruce?"

He let out a breath of air that he didn't even know he was holding.

"I'm right here. Are you alright, Diana?" He said trying to hide the worry in his voice by covering it up with the deep monotonous voice he always used, but she knew him too well for that trick. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"I think so, but lost my com link when the laser hit me…and Bruce, thank you." He let the corner of his mouth slip into a small half smile. He placed her gently in the seat beside him and turned his attention to the two ships left. He shot them both with missiles. The first one fell but the second dodged and remained shouting at his ship. It had raised it's power and the bullets came quicker, faster, and hotter. Batman turned his up as well. He shot four this time and larger ones as well. This time they hit their mark, causing the airborne vessel to plummet.

"Let's get you to the Manor to get you medically treated." He said to Diana and she nodded quietly, it wouldn't be too long before they reached the Batcave now.

/JL\

John shot green bullets right and left while trying to keep a shield up at all times. Seeing that he was on of the leaders, the green beasts attacked surrounded him first…or was it just because there was a Thanagarian on a rampage just next to him that caused them to turn his way? It had been forty-five minutes of non-stop battle. Shayera seemed to get the most out of all the heroes he had seen, he admired her skill…at the moment he wish he had some of it. Shayera was outside of the circle he was slowly being enclosed in and seemed to caught up in her own share of the monsters to be able to get him out. _Where's Flash when you need him!? _He thought to him self as he shot a Gordanian in the head, who only stumbled a little then shook his head and raised his weapon once more. _More strength and speed Stuart! _He mentally yelled, pushing himself harder.

Just a little bit to the left of him, behind and between him and Shayera, came the thudding of something big. He turned his head to see. . .It was Vixen. She slammed into the four Gordanians separating him and Shayera. The first three though pushing with all their strength fell to the ground with a thud the fourth and the two next to him stood still making her stumble back.

Two more came behind them and raised their weapons.

Five against one.

John glared and held up his ring arm.

They shot.

Too late….

….

….

John shot a bolt of light so strong it slammed into the five before their lasers left their guns. They fell to the ground, not one got up. Mari turned to him and smiled. She and Shayera both headed towards him, one flying and one running. They both reached him in a heartbeat.

"Thanks, Boo." Mari said and he nodded and smiled. She was beautiful, he'd give her that…and the fact that she didn't have a secret fiancé that know one knew about. She was safe, no surprises, and no double-crosses.

"Where's Flash?" Shayera said bringing him back to the battle at hand. He looked at her and for a moment he just stared. She was beautiful as well…but there was something else about Shayera, something he didn't see or feel when he looked at Mari, something mysterious, like new doors waiting to be opened, a new future, a new life, and a renewed love. He shook it off. _Forget it Stuart, whatever you saw in that future obviously was too good to be true. Things wouldn't be that good anyway. . .too many risks. Just get back to this world._

"I was just thinking the same thing earlier. I have no idea." He replied. His expression hadn't changed from the old thin line he always wore when hiding his emotions.

"I know, he's-" Mari was cut off by Shayera's exclamation.

"John behind you!" He turned around and through up a shield just in time to block a rain of bullets. "Wait a minute for the explanation!" She said quickly to Mari and flew up and over the shield.

The Gordanians shots followed her but she was always a second ahead and she landed just behind them. Blocking their shots with her mace, she stepped closer. With two swift movements to the one in front of her, he fell. Two more to the one beside him and three for the one behind him, and they both fell beside the first. With a leap and a shout in one hit the fourth fell. In one flip, one swing and three hits, two Gordanians which stood beside each other fell.

Shayera Hol turned back to the two astonished heroes, breathing heavily. They seemed like quick and simple movements, but behind each move, hit, and jump were power filled pushes of muscle. It was harder and more tiring than it looked.

"That was really great." Mari said amazed at how quick she was able to take down so many Gordanians. Shayera only shrugged.

"You just got to know where to hit and with what weapon. I've been doing it most of my life, it's not a big deal. Now what were you saying about Flash?" John looked at Shayera. She really did know what she was doing, but of course she did…she'd been in the Thanagarian War for years now.

"Oh. J'onn's been telepathically speaking to Flash and I to deliver messages around to different members of the League. With all the things he's doing at the moment and because of the distance he was only able to contact a couple of people, so he picked two that would be able to get around quickly: Flash with his speed and myself with my cheetah ability. At the moment Flash's got most of the messages." Both John and Shayera nodded understanding his abandonment.

"Good, we'll finally-" Now it was John's turn to be interrupted by one of Shayera's exclamations.

"Mari get down!" Mari turned around to see the long, thick muscle powered tail of a Gordanian come towards her. Shayera pushed her to the ground and the tail went over them. It missed Shayera's back and wings by only inches. As soon as it slashed back one more time and stopped they sat up. John shot four light bullets to the Gordanian's head and he fell over, only to get up half a minute later. John shot four more to the same spot only harder this time. This time he didn't get back up. The women stood up and stood next to him.

"You should be careful, those things could sever a limb, know your head off, or even stop your heart from the impact if it hit your chest." Shayera said to Mari helping her up, then she turned to John. "Not bad, but try aiming for the neck instead of the head. The neck is softer and more vulnerable, he'll fall with less hits if you shoot there." Shayera commented.

"Thanks…if that was suppose to be a compliment." He said sarcastically.

"I wasn't criticizing you! I was only giving you some advice! I know how to fight Gordanians better than you do!" Her voice rose.

"Well, it sounded a lot like criticism to me! And just because you know how to fight them better doesn't mean I can't fight them good at all!" His rose as well.

"I never said that!" Now they were arguing. . .again.

"No, but you continue to point out my flaws when you should recognize that I'm not the only one with them and everyone had them!"

"Are you saying that I'm flawed at everything I do?!" Mari rolled her eyes. She knew they loved each other, but this was getting annoying.

"No! I never said that!"

"Well, then what did you mean to say!?"

"I was just saying-"

"Stop it!" Mari shouted holding up her hands. "Were in the middle of a battle, this isn't the time for your arguments." They both stopped and turned to her.

"Your right, I'm sorry Mari." John stated as he looked at her, and Shayera nodded.

"Okay, but you have to-" Flash dashed up to them, interrupting their conversation.

"Batman needs us over at the cave right away. I thinks he's got a way of communication." He said quickly with an exhausted expression on his face. The three of them looked at him, it was a little unexpected, but they went with it.

"Okay we'll head over there right away." Green Lantern responded right away, then turned to Mari and gave her a quick hug and kiss. "Be careful." He said and she nodded.

"I will. You don't have to worry about me, I'll see you soon." He smiled and nodded.

"Then let's go." Shayera said and took off into the air, immediately dodging bullets.

/JL\

Booster Gold had his arms crossed, walking behind the others who were examining the Watchtowers engine.

"So, exactly which part of this hunk of junk is actually the engine?" He asked as he turned the corner to see the others had stopped to examine some cords.

"The entire thing is the engine. There's just a lot of different parts to it, like the gravity systems, and the sensor processor, and the communication modulator which is what we're looking for." Steel replied studying the cable carefully.

"Oi! I never knew this thing could be so big!" Fire said as she looked up at how high the machine went.

"It has to be, to keep this place running, and it is in no way a 'hunk of junk.'" Steel replied glaring at Booster.

"Please, this thing! Where I come from there are plenty of things more better than this." Booster replied with a look of boredom.

"Well, that's a discussion for another time. Right now J'onn wants this done as quick as possible, so lets keep it moving." Captain Atom stated and continued to examine the wall in which the cord was connected. It was silent for a moment all except the mumbling and grumbling of Booster Gold until Fire made an exclamation.

"Look, over there!" She said with a strong Brazilian accent. "I saw a man's shadow around the corner!"

"Move out!" The Captain shouted and they rushed around the corner to enter a small room filled with different boxes of machinery. "Look around, he's got to be here somewhere."

They looked around every corner, but every time they thought they saw something they turned around and it was gone. It was giving Booster Gold the creeps, but they all felt the sense that something was wrong. Finally they came upon the reason. The reached the end of the last turn around the last box and saw the problem.

"Not a man's shadow, but a shadow of a man himself." Steel stated as they saw the intruder.

"Shadow Thief! What are you doing here, this is no place for thieves?" Captain Atom demanded.

"But it is…" He pulled out, what seemed to be a disconnected device, from within his shadow.

"That's the Watchtower's main power and orbiting mechanism! Without that the Watchtower will be put out of orbit!" Steel shouted.

"How much time do we have?!" Booster Gold shouted as he was about to dive for shadow thief. The ground rumbled and he fell before he leaped, completely embarrassed of course.

"None!" Shadow Thief shouted and Fire shot a beam of fire at him just as he went through the floor.

"We need to tell the others, we don't have much time!" Steel shouted to the others beside him.

J'onn, who had been keeping tabs on all the assignment groups he had sent out, felt their distress and immediately contacted Captain Atom.

"_Captain, what is the matter?" _He asked and began to read his mind.

"_We need to evacuate everyone immediately, Sir!" _He replied, and J'onn's eyes shot open as he read his mind and found out the problem.

"_I will, but you four need to leave with them and get out as soon as possible!" _Captain Atom relayed the information to the others and they rushed upstairs.

"Mr. Terrific, check the computers. We're going out of orbit at a quick speed, tell me where we are headed." J'onn asked Mr. Terrific quickly, who immediately got to work.

"Look like were headed towards…" He looked up at J'onn with a look of horror on his face. "The Metrotower…"

/JL\  
(45 minutes later)

Bruce waited for John and Shayera to show up as he watched the news broadcasts with Wally. All that was on, was destruction. Most of the reporters wouldn't even go out into the streets to get the coverage, but there was two things in common among the people: one, they unanimously hated Gordanians, and two. . . It was Shayera's fault.

"How can they say that! All she's ever been doing lately is helping them! She could've left a couple years ago but instead she decided to stay and help, and now because of one lying freak-lizard, they blame her!" Wally said in frustration.

"We know that Wally, but the people of Earth obviously don't know her like we do, you have to realize that they see things different from their view." Diana said from the soft chair next to Bruce, where she was sitting. She had her hands on the bandage around her waist.

"But that still doesn't give them the right to do that!" Wally shouted.

"I agree. They seem to only be focused on what has happened in the past rather then what has been going on in the present. The people have only been focusing on the trauma that occurred during the Thanagarian Invasion rather than on Shayera's recent deeds." Bruce added to the conversation.

"What about the Thanagarian Invasion and my deeds?" Shayera asked as she flew into the Batcave with John just beside her, both catching a couple words at the end of the conversation.

"Good you're here. Diana and I have made something that might be able to send a couple short singles to the comm. links to send a couple messages but we need one to actually make it work. Ours were damaged on the way here, and apparently," Batman began, changing the subject, then turned to Wally and glared as he finished. "Wally threw his away. Do you have yours?"

"I do." Green Lantern said as he took his comm. link out of his ear and handed it to Batman.

"Just give me a minute to get the device working." Bruce said while pulling out a small machine, a little more small than the comm. link itself.

"Did you two have any trouble on the way here?" Diana asked when she saw that John had noticed the bandage.

"Not much, Shayera took care of most of it. I'm guessing you had a little more trouble than we did." He said while pointing to the bandage. She nodded. She raised her eyebrow.

"Where is Shay-…oh." They all looked towards the Batcomputor screen, where the main news was being shown, and saw Shayera leaning on the desk with her head down only listening to the sounds of sorrow coming from the screen in front of her.

"_I have reports that the Gordanians are sending their troops from three main locations, Metropolis, Midway City, an archeology site in Egypt, and somewhere near the middle of the Gobi Desert, possibly near the Thanagarian work site. As you look at the scene of destruction and sorrow behind me, it seems Shayera Hol, formerly known as Hawkgirl, has brought down with her another reign of terror, but will the Justice League be able to stop this attack? This is Snapper Carr reporting. I can't tell you when we will be able to bring another update to you due to the dangerous circumstances, but stay tuned. Thank you for watching."_ The news cast immediately shut off cutting to a random commercial about bottled soap. Flash dashed over to her, turned the screen off, and put a hand on her shoulder, she didn't move.

"Shayera-" He started but she looked up and cut him off.

"Wally," She shook her head. "It doesn't matter to me right now." She said quietly. Wally looked at her with a sad expression, he could see the sadness in her green eyes. She turned her head to face the other three. They had all walked over to her, John was the closest next to her besides Wally, who still had his hand on her shoulder.

"Bruce, if we're ever going to take them down we need to hit them hard at their main locations. Battling the others is only waisting time, but we will have to get through some of those first." She said determinedly and stood up straight. He responded with a quick nod and held up the comm. link.

"We can only send two messages with this, so we have to make the right decision. If you think that we need to send out an all out attack on-…wait!" He held up his hand to say stop and listened.

"_Bruce!" _J'onn's voice came clearly in his mind. _"The Watchtower has just crash landed onto the Metrotower destroying both! Everyone was evacuated safely but we're not in good shape out here." _Batman's eyes went wide.

"Turn on the screen, now!" He shouted in his bossy commanding voice. Shayera immediately responded and clicked it on.

"_This doesn't look good…it looks like…like…the Justice League Watchtower has just crashed into their own Metrotower! This doesn't look good for the Justice League, what will they do if-" _A shower of bullets destroyed the camera causing the screen to go into static. Wonder Woman, Shayera, Green Lantern, and Flash all stared at the screen shocked.

"_Bruce, all of us can not take the attack, it is too much for them. The Gordanians seem to be targeting mostly heroes. To many are being injured, we need to pull back or more could be hurt." _Batman didn't answer J'onn but instead turned to his teammates.

"J'onn says everyone was evacuated." He stated and Flash let out a huge sigh while the others felt relieved. "But, they can't take much more of the onslaught. Too many are injured as it is. He suggests a retreat." The others looked at him. Diana and Wally agreed immediately. John was a little hesitant but eventually agree, Shayera on the other hand was silent.

"Shayera?" John asked as he stood next to her waiting for her answer. She stood with her eyes closed trying to decided, finally she sighed softly and looked at him and nodded.

"Then it's settled on what the first message will be." Batman put the improved comm. link in his ear and turned it on. "Calling all Justice League members, this is Batman. I'm issuing an all around retreat. Head back to Earth and to your homes as your civilian identities. If you do not have an identity head to the safe house. Be careful and wait for further instruction."

The "safe house" was actually the Batcave. Batman had reluctantly and hesitantly told a couple of the inner-city entrances to the Batcave, such as the one located in the sewer and behind a brick wall, and a couple others as well. They were all to meet there if they were found.

He got no respond because it was a one way communication but he hoped that they had all gotten the message. They all hoped that everyone had gotten the message.

/JL\  
(2 hours later)

The side of the building crumbled boxing him in, there was no way out. Oliver Queen, beaten and bruised, with a torn and battered suit turned around to face his enemy. Ten Gordanians had showed up at his mansion and nearly killed him. It was a planned, direct attack. They knew who he was, and if they knew about him they knew about the others as well.

The attackers raised their guns.

Green Arrow held up his fists weakly.

This was his last stand.

His arrows hadn't worked.

His brain throbbed.

His wits hadn't helped him any.

Now all that was left of him, was a black-eyed, bloodied, and bruised man, standing against the threats of his people. A true hero inside and out.

A rumble and sound came from behind the wall of rocks behind him. The Gordanians hesitated, and Ollie smiled, he knew that sound. The wall began to crumble at the ultra-sound of a very very close teammate. The rocks cracked and fell to reveal Black Canary glaring with anger in her eyes. She ran up to stand next to Green Arrow and hold him up with one arm.

"I'd get lost if I were you." She said defiantly to the creatures.

The one in front smiled sinisterly revealing a row of sharp teeth. He uttered a command to the group behind him and shot Ollie in the leg. He groaned and his knees gave way making his body crumble to the ground. Dina quickly went to his aid, but then she saw the look in their eyes and decided on a different tactic. She quickly moved Green Arrow behind some rocks just as they began to shoot.

"Stay right here, I'll take of this." She whispered to him softly. He didn't open his eyes but managed to groan out.

"Does it look like I'm going anywhere." She smiled and stood up. She moved to the edge of the rocks and put her head around the corner, beginning her canary scream.

The force of the blast crumpled their weapons but didn't push them over or bother them whatsoever. She turned up the heat and a few of them skidded backwards, but the leader was stronger. Step by step, placing his feet in the dirt, he stepped closer. Her eyes got wide as he neared her, and as her strength began to slow down. That was it, there was no eating these guys. If Arrow couldn't take them and now her scream didn't phase them, it was time to get out of there. She stopped abruptly and rushed to Green Arrow's side.

"I can't take them. We're getting out of here now." She said quickly and tried to lift him as best she could as the Gordanians rushed towards them. She half dragged him to her motor cycle and strapped him on. She got on and took off as fast as she could. She had to get to the Batcave, even if it was dangerous. Everything seemed dangerous now.

/JL\

"Batman!" Black Canary shouted quickly as she entered the Batcave. Oliver had passed out on the way there and she was afraid that he wouldn't make it.

Not too far from where she stood the seven members of the Justice League and a few others rushed over to help her and Green Arrow.

"Is he alright?" She asked Alfred as he put her boyfriend on a medical stretcher.

"He should be fine, miss." He said sweetly.

She smiled and thanked him then turned to face the others. "They knew his identity and found him at his home, which means that the others may be known as well."

"Which also means that none of them know of the danger right at their backdoor. The Gordanians could easily show up at anyone of our member's places and get them." Superman said angrily.

"They must have hacked our computers before destroying the towers." Batman added in, thinking about the possibilities.

"We have to warn them somehow!" Flash said urgently.

"We still have one more message we can send, but we have no where for them to go." Green Lantern replied to Flash's outburst.

"We would have to build a secret base somewhere, but there is no place large and secret enough. We can't keep them all here." J'onn added into the conversation.

"Excuse me, Sir?" Alfred interrupted and they all turned to him. "I might know of a place." He said kindly while turning his head to face the other end of the Batcave. They all followed his eyesight and finally saw what he meant.

"Your right Alfred, that could work." Batman said in his normal tone while staring intently in the direction all were now looking. He turned around to face the others. "Than it's agreed we send the last message?" All nodded in agreement. He turned on his comm. link and got ready to send the message. "Calling all Justice League members, this is Batman. The Gordanians know of your identities head to the safe house immediately. I repeat head to the safe house immediately. This is the last transmission I will be able to send. Get here as quick and as safely as possible, the fate of the world rests on us. Batman out."

They all looked at each other sadly. All of this seemed hopeless and endless. Finally Flash spoke up and for the first time what he said was heart breaking.

"So this is war."

**Well there it is, please review and please stay tuned for the nex chapter. Thanks for reading. tell me how I did and if I need to work on anything, every little bit helps me improve.**


	9. Remembering Pasts, Living in the Present

**I am so sorry this took so long! With school and traveling a lot it's been hard to get a chance to write but I got it updated now, so enjoy.**

**I DON'T OWN JUSTICE LEAGUE! I DO'T OWN JUSTICE LEAGUE! I DON'T OWN JUSTICE LEAGUE! IS THAT PLAIN ENOUGH FOR YOU!!**

(3 weeks after the Gordanian Invasion started)

Shayera walked quietly down the half lit underground tunnel trying not to notice the disgusted looks the other Leaguers were giving her as she carried the box of supplies to the newly built supply room. She instead looked only straight ahead ignoring the glares and tried to think of something other than them. She looked at the floor and sighed inwardly . . . It wasn't working.

"_I had finally gained some trust, then Reolc had to step in and ruin things! When will he ever leave me alone! First the death of my brother, then chasing Rhyan and I across the universe, then throwing Hro in his prison, making him Gordanian-bloodthirsty, and now coming to Earth! . . .But I understand how the people feel, how can they trust me? I've nearly destroyed their planet once before . . . Why shouldn't they think I would do it again? If Hro were still alive, I would be worried about him coming back too, though I know he wouldn't . . . but he's dead . . . There's nothing I can do about that. . . Oh tharzef," _She said mentally, using the Thanagarian word for father. _"Why did I ever listen to you when you said to take the council's offer and come here! . . . It wouldn't have mattered to you anyway. . .You still wouldn't have cared about me, you would have only-" _

Her thoughts were cut short when she ran right into John's strong and sturdy back. She whipped her head up and stepped back. He turned around abruptly to face her.

"Sorry, John. I was just on my way to take this stuff to the supply room and wasn't paying attention to where I was going." She said absently as she looked at John's lit-green, brown eyes. She could see the exhaustion and determination in them, which matched her own. Her eyes moved to look at the woman standing to his right, Mari, aka, Vixen. Mari had her hands and head resting on John's shoulder.

"_I like Mari, really I do. She's a nice woman and her and John are good together, just look at the way his eyes shine brighter with her every touch. . . If anyone is going to be with John, other than me . . . It would be her, but . . . I'm not going to be with John, so she should be happy. I know just as much as her that the whole bantering thing between us is all for the fun of it and she'll eventually end up with me out of the way and in his arms." _Shayera thought to herself and didn't realize that John had just said, "It's fine." and was about to say something else.

"I'll take the box now, Shayera." John said and it brought her out of her thoughts once again.

"Huh?" She asked still confused.

"This is the supply room, remember. I'm supposed to help Vixen and a couple others stack the supplies inside." He said slowly with one eyebrow raised.

"Oh, right. I haven't been paying attention. Here take it." Shayera finally said once she had cleared her mind of all the disturbing thoughts in her head and handed him the large box. He nodded from behind it and headed inside the open door next to him with Shayera and Mari following close behind. Mari slowed her pace to look at the two side by side.

"_Look at them . . . The way John looks at her . . . You have to know that he still loves her, I know he does. I love him so much but I know it won't last . . . I'll be ready for it though. It would make me happy to see him with her again . . . I can tell it hurts him everyday he sees her . . . I know just as much as her that the whole bantering thing between us is all for the fun of it and she'll eventually end up with me out of the way and in his arms." _Mari thought and sighed mentally as she took a couple quick steps to catch up with the other two.

"What's in the box?" Vixen asked Shayera as she came to stand next to her.

"More food, I think." Shayera replied in her normal tone, masking her emotions once again. _I've been thinking too much lately. _

"Well, that's good. Some people were starting to complain. Do you know who went out and got this one?"

"No, I just- Wait, J'onn's trying to send me a message." Shayera said quickly as the Martian began to speak to her telepathically.

"_Shayera, I need your assistance on the construction of the new tunnels and living quarters." _J'onn's stoic voice came into her mind with a hint of interest in his voice.

"_I'm on my way, J'onn." _She replied mentally, unable to hide the exhaustion of days without sleep, and the sadness of the memories flooding her mind. It had been the same way the day the Thanagarians had arrived. It brought back a whole load of unwanted and shunned memories all while she masked her grief and anger as she carried out her duties. She turned to face the Green Lantern and Vixen.

"J'onn, wants me to help him with the construction. You'll have to ask someone else to get the stuff for you." She finally stated as she pushed up a falling box next to her.

"Ok, I'll see you at the meeting tonight." John replied as he searched her face and eyes for any sign of her true emotions. Her invisible mask of fake emotions could be as hard to see through as her old Hawkgirl mask when she wanted it to be.

She nodded in response and walked out of the stuffy supply room towards the very end of their new head quarters. As she looked around, again trying to distract herself, she decided to think about the new place. Alfred had suggested they use the cave's tunnels that ran under Gotham. After blocking the entrance of the main tunnel to the Batcave so that the Gordanian's wouldn't be able to trace them from there, Batman and any other heroes that had gotten their message began to rebuild all that they had lost.

Most of the heroes had made it back, but a few were still missing. Among these lost ones, were Captain Atom, Fire, Gypsy, Aztec, Question, and Huntress. Sadly, they found Gypsy's body among a pile of long dead Gordanians. She had fought valiantly and deserved the memorial ceremony the League had put for her. Vibe and Steel were there, J'onn as well, and though Shayera hadn't had a chance to get to know the woman she attended as well. Captain Atom would have attended, but the Gordanians had sent a message of capture to Wayne Manor, stating that they had him as their prisoner. Shayera was furious, but it was still too soon to attack. . .they could barely get food without being attacked themselves. Fire had gone down with the watchtower, but because of her abilities she would have been able to live though such a disaster, even if she would be badly injured. Aztec had went out for supplies, and came up missing. Later they got another note of his capture. Question and Huntress seemed as if they had gone off the map entirely. No one had seen or heard anything from them since the message was sent, and the Gordanians still hadn't sent word of their capture, so no one truly knew where they were.

Things had been so much different since that day. Everyone was so solemn and distraught, even as they worked on the new place. Many of the Leaguers had worked on it for days, herself included. They had put up special support beams to protect from cave-ins, dug out rooms, installed metal doors with access codes, and had built a better and more efficient control room than even the Watchtower's. It had taken some time, and would still take more time, but they were nearly done, and it felt good to know that they might be able to get just an ounce of sleep again.

As Shayera neared the end of the old and finished parts of the headquarters she saw J'onn, in mid-flight, holding up a large metal panel. She flew to his side and grabbed the corner, helping him place the piece in the correct spot. Once they had finished that they both landed on the rocky floor.

"Thank you for coming to help, Shayera." J'onn told her kindly as she landed next to him.

"Well that's what we're all supposed to be doing right now anyway." She said as she shrugged. Shayera turned to look down the hallway she had just came, again all the Leaguers couldn't help but give her diminishing looks. She let out a small quiet, barely noticeable sigh.

"What's wrong, Shayera?" J'onn asked her worriedly as he picked up a wielding tool.

"Nothing." She answered defiantly as she stood up straighter and crossed her arms. Thoughts of everything that had happened in the last few days bomb barded her mind: A strange kid that reminded her of someone back home, a Thanagarian message of someone she knew and loved, a friend in a coma, Gordanians invading Earth because of her, Reolc continuing to ruin her life, being forced underground, and now everyone hated her, again. There was definitely something wrong. Her shoulders sagged a little as she sighed, louder this time. "Who am I kidding, J'onn? Of course, there's something wrong. There's something wrong with this entire situation." He merely nodded awaiting her next comment. "Everything's been gone wrong in my life since the minute the Thanagarians landed on Earth, and now, the Gordanians have landed and it's only made things worse. I'll never gain these people's trust again, just look at the way they look at me! I'd probably be better off dead to them than alive." She said the last sentence quieter than the rest. J'onn stopped abruptly, at hearing her words, and turned to look at her.

"Shayera, you know more about these creatures than anyone here. Your help is more important to this mission than any other's. They may see you as a traitor but your past does not define who you are unless you let it control your life in the present and future." He told her softly with a hand on her shoulder and a smile. She returned the smile.

"Thanks J'onn," She turned towards the hallway and passing Leaguers. "But leaving a past like that behind is a lot harder than it looks."

/JL\

"Welcome to the meeting, now we can finally start this thing." Superman said as Flash, the last one to show up as always, entered the room.

"Thank you Supes." Flash said dramatically with a bow as if he was the most important person there.

"Would you please, just take a seat." Batman growled while scowling at Flash's antics; he wasn't having a very good day. Wally just flashed his wide, shining smile, to brighten up the gloomy atmosphere, and took a seat.

Batman looked at each of the original seven Justice League members, studying their expressions before he spoke. "We've been drawing this out for too long. We need to make a move now before the Gordanians can get any stronger."

"I agree. We should at least make some attempt at an offense." Diana agreed with Batman, her expression changing from one of interest to one of determination.

"One thing that I've learned while fighting these murderers, is that, it would almost be better to go out and risk a few men and put just a big enough dent in their plan to stop them from wiping us out all at once, until we can make an even bigger impact." Shayera added in.

"Which is exactly what Bruce and I were talking about before all of you entered this meeting. We were thinking about sending in three or four people, a team just small enough to get farther into their territory and just good enough to make that dent you were talking about, Shayera." Superman said, confident in his (more like Batman's) plan.

"Who would we send?" Green Lantern asked.

"I was thinking that Shayera should lead and put together the team. She has more knowledge of Gordanian strategies and would be best for this mission." Batman said stoically while looking towards Shayera's direction.

"Yeah, Shayera's perfect for this! She could take out more Gordanians in a couple seconds than all of us put together!" Flash said with hopes high on Shayera's mission.

"Sure, I'd love to go smash some Gordanians." Shayera leaned back and nodded.

"But isn't that a little risky? Shayera's the one Reolc wants. If we put her in there, he could easily get to her." John interrupted. Shayera abruptly sat up and glared at him.

"What do you mean, he could easily get me?! Are you saying I can't handle this?" She said defiantly.

"No, I'm just saying it would be dangerous and risky." John answered with just as much defiance in his voice as she.

"Hey, hey! No need to start an argument." Wally said as he sped to stand in between them.

"Flash's right, the last thing we need is for more arguing." Wonder Woman added to his comment.

"Shayera's already accepted the assignment, and she knows the risks that come with every mission. Now, Shayera, who would you need?" Superman said first directing his voice towards John, then Shayera.

"Probably someone with experience and stealth, and most importantly . . . Someone willing to take orders from me." She answered.

"I'd go with you." Flash commented.

"We need your speed to help finish the construction as fast as possible." Batman replied and Wally sank a little in his seat, but nodded willingly.

"I'm not doing anything but moving boxes; I would be willing to go." John offered and Shayera looked at him, knowing that he wanted to go more to protect then for the mission. It was sweet but he had to realize that no matter what he did for her didn't change the fact that they weren't together. But she smirked and answered anyway.

"Fine, but I still need one more."

"May I suggest Vixen?" The Martian Manhunter, who had not said a word but had thought over the situation carefully, finally spoke. With his words, John was about to protest but Shayera spoke before he could object.

"Fine with me, as long as she wants to." Again John tried to object but was interrupted.

"Good, then I guess this meeting is adjourned. All of you should go back to your duties and Shayera prepare your team to leave immediately." Batman spoke, stood, and left the room. At that point everyone knew the meeting really was over, but then again he always left in his strange and mysterious way. Nonetheless, the legendary Leaguers went on with their duties and missions.

**please review! and i'm updating the next ch. with this one so that'll you'll have somethin' to chew on while you wait for the next update. So just review and keep reading!**


	10. Sacrifice is a Gift

**ok well here's the next chapter I promised. So this one was actually connected with the other one but I thought it would be too long so I split them up. But here's the finished one, and I happen to like this one a lot so I really hope you have fun reading it.**

**AGAIN! DON'T OWN IT!**

John crept quietly with Shayera and Mari close at his side. They had come out of one of the remote dugout holes to the surface and had wondered through the endless back alleys and streets of Gotham to get to Metropolis and even more to get to the command ship. Now that they were there, John looked between his two comrades and shook his head; they had to be the two people on the Justice League that he loved and worried about the most. Bruce had to warn him to not let his emotions get in the way of his mission. On that thought, John quickly got back on track, paying attention to their objective: getting to the power room and then, if possible, the prison room.

The metallic hallway was nearly pitch black if not for a couple lights on the walls and the lights of his ring and Shayera's mace. The darkness felt thick like a five pound weight on his shoulders. He crept closer and lower, following Shayera and Vixen's silent movements down the hall. Eerie sounds of screeching, like fingernails against a chalkboard, and pounding followed by squishing, like a mallet used to smash fruits, came from different parts on the other side of the walls. These sounds sent shivers up his and Vixen's bodies. Shayera on the other hand, didn't seem to be affected by the disturbing noises: she just continued to walk stealthily, turning corners and passing doors as if there was no threat at all.

As John ducked under a protruding shelf he watched and admired Shayera's stealth and determination. This was obviously something very personal to her.

The three of them were near a corner when Shayera held up her hand for them to stop. She turned around to face them, and for the first time since they had entered, John was able to see her sparkling green eyes and the story of emotions which they held. He had always considered her hard to read, even without her mask, but now her eyes told him everything. She didn't like this place just as much as he didn't, but she was determined to stop them. He didn't know what experience, besides the death of her brother, that triggered this determination, but he was determined to be the same for her.

"Around this corner there should be the door to the power room. They'll be a lot more Gordanians guarding that area than we've seen guarding others, so we'll have to be careful." Shayera whispered to them and both John and Mari nodded. "There's a switch on the far side of the room, we need to reach that as fast as possible." Again they nodded, this time Shayera turned back around and moved on.

"_She seems to know this place pretty well . . ."_ John thought as he turned the corner and saw a large door.

Shayera slowly opened the door and stepped in, making sure to stay near the wall. The room was as dark as the hall way, and after a quick look she motioned for them to come in. Vixen followed by Green Lantern entered the room. They inched forward, step by step. The darkness shadowed there movements, but how were they to know if the Gordanians couldn't see or hear them? For all they knew they could be waiting in the stillness, just waiting like a hungry reptile ready to grab its prey. As they crept along slowly farther into the room, John surprisingly found that he was holding his breath. He rarely ever felt the need to hold his breath but at this moment, with these two heroes near him even, he felt as though something was going to go terribly wrong . . . And it was.

The minute they were half way through the room, everything went wrong. The lights flashed on and John immediately went into battle mode. Vixen was ready to strike and Shayera had her mace raised. They all stood ready to attack, then a voice came from their right.

"Ha! You did very good . . . for a couple of humans and a disgusting Thanagarian!" Commander Reolc's voice echoed through the room, while deep laughs followed, signaling a circle of Gordanians blocking their escape.

John felt that same terror creep into his bones as Reolc stepped closer and into the light. His beady eyes bore into John's own eyes for a little more than a moment until he turned to look at Shayera. A wicked smile spread onto his reptile-like face. Finally, with one short nod from the commander, Vixen, Green Lantern, and Shayera were tackled to the ground by four or five Gordanians each. They held each of them high so that they were on the same eye level with Reolc.

John glanced around the room looking for any kind of escape or loop hole out of this. The Gordanian holding his wrists behind him was slowly twisting them with every second. John gritted his teeth as pain shot up his arms with every twist. The minute that lizard head broke his wrists, he wouldn't be able to use his ring. He had to make something happen now. He shut his eyes and focused all his energy and thoughts on his only weapon. He felt the power surge within his mind and he shaped that power into two massive punches. The power ran through his body and exited out of the ring hitting the Gordanian holding his wrists and the one next to him, who was holding his neck and shoulders. They both stumbled back putting the other two near him in a state of bewilderment. This gave him the chance he wanted. With a few shots to the neck of each they both fell to the ground. But it was all in vain.

Reolc grasped John's neck in a choking grip.

John could feel the blood rushing to his head and the pain in his lungs, for a breath of air. As his vision blurred and his ears began to pound he could faintly hear the screams of warning and despair from the two women, "John!"

Reolc's massive and deadly tail slammed into his mid-section, throwing him across the room.

John remembered Shayera's words as he felt his ribs crack and his skin rip,

"_You should be careful; those things could sever a limb, knock your head off, or even stop your heart from the impact if it hit your chest." _

He groaned. He was a goner for sure now. _No! You just . . . need to . . . focus and . . . _He opened his eyes just barely. The pain in his ribs and stomach was growing and his breathing was getting harder. Shaking, his arm moved towards the wounded area, landing on something wet and sticky. Was it blood? John couldn't think straight over the pain in his body and the burning in his lungs. His other hand groped around on the ground for something, anything, to pull himself up. He wasn't about to let himself die, not like this. As darkness shrouded the corners of his mind and sight, he saw one last image come to him: the image of Reolc walking towards him with all the anger and hatred in his eyes that he always had. As his world went black and his mind went blank, John then knew that this had to be the end.

/JL\

"John!" Both Shayera and Vixen yelled towards Green Lantern just as Reolc swung his tail into John. Mari watched as her beloved's skin was torn to the bone from the impact of the natural weapon. Tears filled her eyes as she watched him gasp for breath and soon pass out.

Reolc stepped closer to John and picked the limp body up from the ground like it was a piece of paper. He shook his head. "Poor little man. Ha! Thinking he could get away that easily!"

Mari watched as he walked over to Shayera and held the bleeding and half-dead Lantern up to her. "Does it bother you to see this man like this?" He said with a sly tone in his voice.

Mari glanced at Shayera's face to see her expression, but it was turned away from both of them. She noticed her slumped shoulders and sagging head, but Mari didn't need to notice these things to know that Shayera was hurting just as she was . . . and neither did Reolc. He grasped Shayera chin with his free hand and moved her head to face his.

"Are those tears in your eyes, warrior?" Shayera did indeed have tears in her eyes, but she didn't answer him. He let her head droop as he glanced between her and the man in his other hand. "So, as the story goes, you betrayed Thanagar for a puny planet like this one and a man . . . a Green Lantern I was told." Shayera's head snapped up, and Mari already knew where this was going. Reolc looked over the nearly dead man then turned his attention back to the Thanagarian. "You make me sick. You pathetic Thanagarian! You 'love' this man, yet you're the one killing him now." He put more emphasis on his next words. "I wouldn't be here, if you hadn't been here. But if my examination is right, with some medical attention, he could live . . . which is exactly why I'll just have to finish him off for you."

He threw John across the room, making his body hit the wall and crumple to the ground. Reolc motioned for a Gordanian to bring him a large gun. "This right here, is a canon particle beam blaster, let me show you what it does." He said and instead of pointing it directly at John, he directed it toward a Gordanian standing near him. Before the Gordanian could run, Reolc shot the weapon, killing one of his own men. The horrid site of what the beam could do made Mari sick. The dead Gordanian lay burnt and charred at the foot of where she was being held.

"Now," Reolc began as he moved the blaster in John's direction. "Let me show you something."

Mari couldn't take this any more, she had to get out of this. The Gordanians held her much in the same way they had held GL. She was double-jointed allowing her to twist her arm just enough to give her wrists the right amount of space to escape. She slowly pulled one hand out of their grip, then another until they were both free. Now the real action would begin. Just as the Gordanian realized that she was out, she took on the power of an elephant, slamming her side into him. The stupid soldier tumbled to the side and knocked his comrade, the one holding one of her feet, down. _Two down, two to go._ Vixen now with a free leg and arms kicked the creator holding her shoulders, with the same amount of power that had knocked down the first. The last Gordanian took one hand off her leg to reach up and grab her, but she swung around and kneed him in the chin. He involuntarily let go of her leg to grab his wounded jaw, giving her the opportunity to kick him down.

All of the brutes guarding her were down and she rushed to stand in front of John. "You'll have to get through me before you can kill him." She said defiantly. She knew that the commander wouldn't care and shoot her as well, but she figured that if he shot her first than that would give Shayera enough time to escape and get John out of here. Reolc looked amused at her statement.

"Do you really think you could stand in the way? I'll only kill you then him, so why try? I'll tell you what, I'll let you go if you move, or will you have to show me how stupid you humans really are?" Mari took a deep breath, she may be selfish sometimes, but she was a real hero nonetheless.

"I'm not moving." She said confidently.

"Very well. . ." He raised the weapon and shot a beam towards the hero.

/JL\

"John!" Shayera yelled, echoing Vixen's cry. Shayera fought oncoming tears as she watched Reolc slap John hard with his fat and hard tail then pass out in pain on the ground. What human could live through that? She let her head droop as she stared at the floor in sorrow. She bit her lip. She wouldn't cry, not now. Reolc had taken too much from her to deserve the satisfaction of breaking her very heart. She would be strong, for him.

She didn't notice the way Reolc picked up John or how he carried him to her. She merely concentrated on getting past this event. _He can't be dead. He just can't. I won't let him be._

"Poor little man. Ha! Thinking he could get away that easily!" Commander Reolc said as he shook his head in mock pity. Shayera glared at the floor through teary eyes. She wouldn't dare glare at the Gordanian in the eyes; it would only mean an invitation to more destruction, to that monster. Shayera stole one quick glance at the bleeding and torn form of the man she loved. It made her sick. It made her sick to see him in such a horrible state, but she kept her emotions and thoughts to herself as best she could. When she didn't lift up her head to retaliate to Reolc's comment, he spoke.

"Does it bother you to see this man like this?" There was a sly tone in his voice as he spoke those words. Again, she did not lift her head to look at him. Angrily he grabbed her chin and yanked her head up to face him. Her face was in a blank expression, but her eyes and body gave him his answer.

"Are those tears in your eyes, warrior?" He asked, but Shayera kept her mouth shut, to afraid that she would let her sorrow slip out. He finally let go of her chin letting it fall back to her chest. "So, as the story goes, you betrayed Thanagar for a puny planet like this one and a man . . . a Green Lantern I was told." Shayera whipped up her head in shock. How had that story gotten to the Gordanians? How far had it been passed on? Even with so much detail to know that he was a Green Lantern?

"You make me sick. You pathetic Thanagarian! You 'love' this man, yet you're the one killing him now." He put more emphasis on his next words. "I wouldn't be here, if you hadn't been here. But if my examination is right, with some medical attention, he could live . . ." Shayera eyes went wide as she looked at John's bleeding form. He was crushed and barely breathing, but Reolc was right, with severe medical attention he could live. A new serge of hope ran through her mind, even as Reolc said his next words. "Which is exactly why I'll just have to finish him off for you."

Shayera didn't care for his last words; in fact she had expected them. Her tears and despair were gone, now was the time for action. She had to act quick and quietly, but most of all it had to be well timed. Her thoughts went off into thinking of ways to escape until she saw the gun.

Reolc held the weapon ready to fire. "This right here, is a canon particle beam blaster, let me show you what it does." He pointed to one of his own men and shot the deadly weapon. Shayera shook her head in disgust at the Gordanians way of thinking, especially Reolc's. He would kill one of his own men just to demonstrate a weapon and strike fear into everyone around. A moment later she noticed something going on to her right. Vixen was getting out, and Shayera soon knew why.

"Now," Reolc began as he moved the blaster in John's direction. "Let me show you something."

Commander Reolc was pointing the gun at John. Anger and determination rose up inside of Shayera. Now was the time.

She heard Mari's voice as the hero stepped in front of her boyfriend. "You'll have to get through me before you can kill him." That was it for Shayera; she wouldn't let Mari do that. Sure, she loved the woman's boyfriend and wanted to be his more than anything, but a life was a life.

"Do you really think you could stand in the way? I'll only kill you then him, so why try? I'll tell you what, I'll let you go if you move, or will you have to show me how stupid you humans really are?" Reolc's voice entered her thoughts, and she knew what Mari's answer would be. It was time to take action.

Shayera jerked her head and bit down as hard as she could on the collarbone of the Gordanian standing closest to her. He bellowed. _Forget about quiet!_ He loosened his grip on her wrists and she took advantage of it. She slipped her hands out of his and punched him in the face. He fell back as another one grasping her shoulders tightened his grip. She grunted with the new pain then thrust her wings upward with so much force that they made the two Gordanians hold them stumble back, then using both hands grabbed the wrists that were on her shoulders and flipped the large, heavy Gordanian over her. However, the movements had cost a lot of energy and Shayera struggled to unleash her feet as the Gordanian holding them held tighter. Her arms ached and she was sure that she had pulled one out of socket with that last stunt. With all the ruckus going on she just barely heard Mari's answer.

"I'm not moving." _No Mari don't . . . _Shayera wouldn't let her. All she had to do was get her mace. It was lying on the ground just near her. With all the energy she could muster she made a fist with her hands and slammed it down upon the Gordanian's head. He fell over and his arms went limp releasing the prisoner. Shayera without a moment to loose flew for her mace.

"Very well . . ." Reolc's voice directed towards Vixen.

Shayera rushed towards the targeted area. Within a moments time a thousand thoughts and memories ran through her mind. _"Shayera, a sacrifice of a life for another life is a gift of love, and a sacrifice of a life for a whole world of lives is the greatest gift of love any one man can give." _Her mother's voice echoed in her mind. Is that what she was about to do? Sacrifice her life for Mari? Yes it was Mari, not John. John would live whether or not she made that sacrifice, Mari would not. Was Shayera really willing to give up her life for a woman she had only known for a short time? A woman who was dating the love of her life? Shayera had made her decision. Sometimes you have to sacrifice things for the one you love, even if it means hurting yourself or him in the process. It was for his own good. She would do this because she loved him.

/JL\

Reolc raised the weapon and shot a beam towards the hero. One of the women crumpled to the ground in the agony of pain and as the world went black, possibly forever, she knew no more.

**Well, cliff hanger! so please review and tell me who yo think actually got shot . . . cause I KNOW, but you don't. so I'd like to know what you think. Which gives even more reason for you to review, so go and click that GO button!**


	11. Sorrow of a Hero

**Ok, so this chapter is really really short, and there isn't any action. I just wanted to wrap somthing up for you, so yep.**

**AGAIN! DON'T OWN 'EM!**

John Stewart, woke up to the sound of the beeping of a heart monitor. The pain coming from his mid-section was less than when he had first received the wounds, but the sudden awareness of it made him groan with agony. He blinked his eyes open to the bright lights of the underground medical room. Testing the movement in his arms and fingers, he was glad to find that they were actually working. With that thought, he wondered what had happened after he had passed out; how he even lived.

"John?" A female voice said on his right. John turned his head to face the sound. Right there beside him sat . . .

. . . Mari, looking sadly at him with a bandage over her arm and many scrapes and bruises.

"Mari?" He groaned as he tried to remember the events of their mission. Placing a hand on his forehead he looked at her in the eyes. "What happened?"

She sighed and took his hand. "John, you've been out for hours, it's already five in the morning. What your body needs right now is sleep, so I suggest you get some."

Her words were quiet and slow, very unlike her. He reluctantly lowered his head onto the pillow and closed his eyes. _Mari's probably just stressed over the thought that I almost died._ He tried to convince himself of that, then a thought struck him. _Had she just said 'John'? She rarely ever calls me John, something's wrong, something is very, very wrong._ He snapped his eyes open and grasped her hand before she could pull away.

"Mari, what's wrong? What's going on?" He asked with all the seriousness in his voice. Her eyes were fixed on the floor, but she finally looked up at him.

"It's about Shayera . . . She," She couldn't continue. John's eyes went wide.

"What happened to Shayera?" Mari sighed sadly before she spoke.

"After Reolc hit you with his tail, he was going to shoot you with a canon particle beam blaster," John recognized the name of the weapon. He had seen the damage of one before, they were deadly. One shot could kill someone. "I couldn't let him do that so I got in between the two of you. I figured that it would give Shayera just enough time to escape and grab you while Reolc shot me, but . . . She . . ."

"She what!?" John knew where this was going but he refused to let it be true.

"She jumped in front of me and took the shot." Mari said unable to look at him in the eyes. John couldn't breath, Shayera couldn't be dead, she just couldn't.

"Is she . . .?" He couldn't finish it. Mari didn't answer and John was about to go crazy until she finally spoke.

"I don't know. Rumor has it that she is, but . . . I doubt it, you know she's a fighter. She wouldn't go down like that." Mari tried to be reassuring, but she finally lost it. "John, why did she do that?! I mean, we're not that close of friends, and now . . . And I know it wasn't for you, because if she had waited only a minute longer she would have you safe and hers, so why?! Normally, I wouldn't care about what people do for me, but for Shayera to give her life for me, that's something I could never take lightly!" She sat down still holding John's hand.

John thought over what she had said. Why had Shayera done such a thing? His mouth had become dry just thinking about whether or not Shayera was dead. He pushed that thought away, and convinced himself that she was still alive, she had to be for their destiny's sake. He stuck with that conclusion and looked at his girlfriend. She was staring at their intertwined hands and she finally understood.

"She did it for us, John." She answered quietly. John was taken aback by her words and preceded to ask her what she meant.

"What do you mean?"

"You know I'm not a very deep person, but I do know some things. I know that when you love someone so much, your willing to give up anything to make them happy. In Shayera's case, her life for our relationship." John was shocked. Did Shayera really love him that much that she would give up her life just for him and Mari to be together? He also didn't like the way she kept pointing out that Shayera had given up her life, like Shayera was dead. "John, she needs you right now and I think you do too."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I should do the same as her and give up my wants for your happiness." John looked at her in the eyes. Was she breaking up with him?

"Do you mean . . ."

"Yes, I think we need a break from each other, a very long break." John couldn't believe his ears. She _was_ breaking up with him, and for Shayera! A part of him had always secretly wanted her to, but now that she was, it hurt. He couldn't respond. "John, Shayera needs you. So, I suggest you get up and go see her."

_Shayera. _John's thoughts immediately went back to her. She was probably laying in a medical bed dying while he was sitting here thinking about how much he hurt. Mari was right, he needed to get to Shayera. He nodded to her, still unable to make a comment. He wasn't sure what to say, especially after what she had just said. As she helped him sit up the emotional pain from their broken relationship, surprisingly, matched his physical pain. He grunted as he got up. She helped him into a hover wheelchair and sent him on his way. As he slowly left the room, he realized that the tears in her eyes hurt him more than the break up itself. He sighed; it was to late to go back now.

As he moved the chair towards the women's infirmary, he realized he had no idea what to say to Shayera. They hadn't been together for so long, he didn't know how to tell her what he felt. He sighed and realized he would think of something. As he neared the corner to her medical room, he stopped as thoughts of the Thanagarian Invasion entered his mind. His bodied stiffened as the same thoughts that had made him stay with Mari came to mind. _Can I trust her? How will I know that she won't do it again? I can't take another broken heart. . . But what would I do without her?_ With this thought, he made his decision. As he turned the corner he was met with a terrible seen.

All the original seven stood outside the door. Bruce leaned against the door, staring angrily at the floor while J'onn stood near the window staring out into space with sad eyes. Clark and Diana had tears running down their cheeks while Wally sat on the floor leaning against the wall with his head in his hands, crying, just crying. John's mouth went dry and his throat felt as though it were shrinking. This wasn't right. He knew why they were crying but he wouldn't believe it. _No! No!_ He rushed over to the door but Bruce held him back and spoke in the saddest tone John had ever heard from him.

"You're too late . . . She's gone."

/JL\

The days that followed the death of Shayera were, to say in the least, solemn. The funeral was great, it was Wally's idea to have the doves. Shayera would have been surprised to find that all the League members had shown up, even those who knew her little. John still couldn't believe she was gone. He had tried to hold back his tears during the ceremony, but it was no use. Marine or no marine, he had loved her and it hurt to see her gone. J'onn arrived a little late, saying he had to check something in the control room, for the beginning, but was there to speak. Batman had been silent like always, but he seemed in deep thought. John couldn't trick himself into thinking she was alive. Batman had even shown up at the funeral, proving that she was. The couple days after the funeral everything seemed to last an eternity to him. What of his future? What of his love for her? What of their son? What would happen to him? All these thoughts ran through his mind. Things would never be the same. Not only had he lost the love of his life, and the League lost a friend and valuable hero, but they knew there was no hope for them. Shayera was their expert on Gordanians; without her they had no idea how to attack. Without her, John and the very Justice League itself, could come to an end.

**Review and tell me what you think of Shayera's death. I'd really like to know . . . so REVIEW!**


	12. The Return

**I know this is a really, really short chapter, but I wanted you guys to finally know this. have fun readin' and thanks for the reviews!**

**DON'T OWN IT!**

John Stewart, after finishing up his duties and getting the 'okay' from the doctors, walked slowly and heavy hearted towards his room. His ribs and stomach were taped up which made his body stiff, but his shoulders slumped in realization that Shayera was gone. _Gone…,_ John shook his head. _No…_, When she had left the League, that was gone, this was . . . This was worse than gone, this was _Dead…_

The rest of the League had been keeping an eye on him and he knew it. He was worse than when she had left. He had barely eaten or talked in the past week since she had been announced dead. Things were just so different, and they were getting worse. More heroes were going missing when they went out on their supply duties, people were getting tired of being trapped in this whole, and it seemed as though everyone had lost all hope in winning. Then there was his relationship with Mari, that was also troubling him. He could remember their conversation just the other day.

_John had just returned from a meeting with the Justice League and ran into Mari at the end of the hall. He was so downtrodden by Shayera's death that he had hardly noticed her and almost walked right by, until she stopped him._

"_John?" Mari said staring at him waiting for an answer. She had been uncharacteristically quiet lately and John wondered why she had stopped him. He turned to look at her, but didn't make a sound. He always kept a straight face, but the distant look in his eyes told everyone his true feelings._

"_John, are you okay? You haven't been acting yourself lately." She said and he looked at her for a moment like she was stupid. Of course he wasn't okay, and she knew why, but, of course, he answered differently._

"_I'm fine."_

_She looked at him for a moment. He knew that she felt bad for him, but at the moment he was more concerned about where this conversation was going than what she felt._

"_I know this is a tough time for you John, that's why I was thinking that we could spend some time together tomorrow. Just dinner at the cafeteria would be fine with me?"_

_He looked at her liked she was crazy. Was she seriously trying to start up their relationship again, just because Shayera had died instead of lived? Even if it was just because she felt bad for him, how could he say yes to that?_

"_No . . ." Then as an after thought he added. "I'm still recovering, I think I'm just going to get some rest." He quickly walked away, not wanting to see her expression. If he did there was no telling how it would make him feel, he still loved her of course._

"_Ok, but if you change your mind I'll be there." He heard her yell out to him. But at the moment he just wanted to get away, get away from all of that._

John sighed. Maybe he had made a mistake in choosing not to start up another relationship with Mari. He felt so empty since Shayera's death that he didn't know if he could bare it. He stopped and looked at the clock on hall's wall. _7:30, they're still serving dinner, I'm sure it's not to late to join her. _He shook his head. _No. The whole reason why I lost my chance was because I wouldn't give up Mari and now I'm paying for it._

He needed to think. He turned to the right towards the new docking bay. In the watchtower, John had always gone there in the night just to think. It was the perfect place because only authorized personnel could enter and the original seven had all access to it. It was quiet, dark and there was a very little chance of anyone walking in on you. This particular one was underground which meant even more secrecy.

As he opened the door and walked into the room, he knew that he could finally be away from it all. He walked about a couple steps when he heard a noise to his right. He immediately began to glow from the Green Lantern ring. He looked over to the right where a few new-style Javelins had been made. John walked quietly in between the rows of the dark and quiet room. He knew he had heard something and he wasn't about to let it go. That's when he heard a small groan farther to his right near the wall. He quickly flew over to it, passing by a couple Javelins. Once he had gotten in line of sight with the maker of the noise he stopped and took in a sharp breath.

_It can't be!_

There in front of him stood the shadow of a hawk. And not just any hawk, a hawk he knew.

Holding his breath, he quickly turned the light switch on the wall bringing to life the hanging lights above. It was now as bright as day who was standing in front of him. Her eyes grew wide as they met his. She tried to fly up and escape but fell to the ground groaning and grasping her side. Still shocked, all John could say was one word.

"Shayera!"

**so there it is . . . but I'm not explaning anything until the next chapter so start giving me your reviews and thoughts! thanks to all of you who are still reading this, keep it up!**


	13. Explanations

**Ok ok I know it's been like a month or more since I've updated and I'm EXTREMELY SORRY. And thanks for that reminder, funkylolgirl. Anyway here's the next chapter. There's not that much action in this one but the next one's going to have a lot so have fun reading.**

Shayera groaned as she heard John's word. She was actually considering switching off the lights and running. Maybe then he would think she was at least a ghost or something. She quickly dismissed that thought and instead focused on getting up. The wound in her side and ribs was sending enough pain through her body to make an elephant pass out, but a Thanagarian? Not a chance.

Finally, she noticed that John was walking towards her.

"Shayera . . ." He whispered once more trying to reassure himself that she was real.

"Oh, this is just great." She said quietly and John stopped. She looked up to see the hurt and excitement all mixed together in confusion in his eyes. Just great . . .

"Yes, it is." Batman stepped out of the shadows and walked towards Shayera. He helped her up and steadied her so that she could stand on her own. She kept a hand clutched at her side and tried not to show any signs of pain.

"Why are you agreeing with me about this?" She said gesturing in John's direction with her free hand, and glared at his stoic expression.

"I warned you of the risks of someone finding out about your fake death if you tried to leave, and now you've let him know. That was your fault, not mine. Now your going to explain things to him." Shayera's eyes went wide at this response. How could she explain to John why she hadn't told him anything, he would only prevent her from doing what she knew she had to. She sighed; she had no choice.

"John?" She turned to him, since he was now standing only a foot away from her, and now saw tears in his eyes. A sudden feeling of guilt for not telling him that she was alive rushed over her, but she quickly pushed it out of her mind; it wasn't going to help her now.

"Shayera, are you really . . . ?" He couldn't finish his words.

What if she wasn't really Shayera after all? She could be anything from a Cadmus clone to a Justice Lord. Before he heard her answer he turned to Batman to receive a nod from him. Shayera placed a hand on his shoulder and offered him a small smile.

"John, I-" She was cut off by an oncoming pain from her side once again. J'onn had said it would come in waves, but she never thought it would be this bad. Shayera, leaning forward, grasped her side and against her will an agonizing groan escaped her lips.

"She's had too much activity for one night, she's exhausted and her body is unable to fight the wound." Batman quickly said as he moved closer to her. But he couldn't get to her in time, before she knew it a second wave hit her and her knees buckled, sending her to the ground. In only a moments time her body was caught in the strong arms of the Green Lantern who wasn't going to let her hurt herself again. The last thing she saw was his fluorescent green glowing eyes stare at hers with only love in them.

/JL\

_The young ten-year-old Thanagarian slid down the cliff side trying, frantically, to grasp anything to keep her from falling. Her arms and hands, now bruised and scraped from the steel-like substance that the cliff was made of, ached, and she had to push harder to get them to continue their search. Finally, her hands came to grips with a small branch, just big enough for the short and thin girl to cling to. Her breaths came out fast and heavy as she hung to the branch for her life. Her red hair swung about her neck as the harsh canyon winds blew past her, swaying the branch that determined whether she should live or die._

_It seemed, to her, as though hours had passed with no sign of help in any direction. With sorrowful radiant green eyes she gave a hopeful glance towards the wings on her back. She closed her eyes and flapped them once, then twice, then a third time, but it was all in vain; they neither helped her catch the oncoming wind or glide in a slow decent. Then when she was sure there was no hope, she heard a call from above, near the top of the cliff, that sent a spark of life through her little body._

"_Shayera!" The girl's head whipped up in response to her name. And there at the top of the cliff, which was not so far off as she thought it to be, was a boy. His features were similar to hers, red hair and green eyes; he looked the same age as well, in fact, he was _exactly _the same age. Shayera, for that is what she was named, looked upon him with tearful and shining eyes._

"_Rhyan! Help me, please!" She shouted managing to carry her voice over the wind. He nodded and began to lean down over the edge, stretching out his hand. Even stretching with all his strength, his hand was still about a foot away. He was trying to lean over farther when they both heard a sudden sound of horror reach their ears. It was a sickening crack; the branch was breaking._

"_You have to try and fly, Shayera! It's your only hope!" Rhyan shouted to her with worry and love in his eyes and a strong comforting confidence in his voice that she had known him to always have._

"_I can't, Rhyan! You know that! I never could, and still can't! I should have been able too a couple years ago, but I can't!" She shouted back, not holding back the tears in front of him._

"_But you can! I know you can, you've never given up before, so you can do this now! Please! I don't want to loose you!" As he said this a second crack sounded and tears came to his eyes. _

_She tightly shut her eyes and tried once more to fly. Her wings flapped once, . . . Twice, . . . Three times, then a fourth and a fifth and even a sixth. . . . But she didn't once lift any higher than she was. Her wings sagged as she gave up and looked up at him and shook her head as more tears came streaming down her cheeks. That's when the third crack sounded and the branch gave way. Rhyan stretched forward with all his might to grasp her hand, but to no avail, and she began to fall._

"_Rhyan!" Shayera screamed out as her body went through one of the things she feared most, falling. He leapt off the cliff in a nose dive and, at the top of his lungs, called after her._

"_Shayera!"_

Shayera Hol sat up abruptly in the underground medical room, breathing heavily. She placed a hand to her head as she recalled the dream and distant memory. She closed her eyes to catch her breath and relax, only to open them a moment later to the sound of a very familiar voice.

"Shayera, are you okay?" She looked up to see the man who had spoken, John Stuart. She had no idea how long she had passed out for, so she assumed that he had finally come to grips with the reality of the situation. She couldn't help but let out a little half-smile when she saw that he once again had his stone faced marine look. He sat next to her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Shayera replied and finally realized that there were fresh tears on her face. Turning her face away from John's gaze, she quickly wiped the tears.

"Bad dream?" He asked with a smirk when she turned back to look at him. She nodded and smiled. It felt good to be able to talk to him again, even if she thought he was still dating Mari.

"Well now that your awake, would you mind at least explaining to me what the heck is going on?" He exclaimed, while crossing his arms.

"He's right Shayera. He needs an explanation, and so do we." Batman and the Martian came to stand next to her bedside with serious faces.

"You?" She asked, now her turn to cross her arms.

"We'll explain after you give John his explanation." J'onn stated and she let her arms drop. She turned to him with a saddened but serious expression.

"Well . . . After Reolc hit you with his tail, he-" John cut her off abruptly.

"I know what happened to you, you've supposedly been dead for a week, remember. What I want to know is . . . Is how you lived?"

"I'm not exactly sure how I lived, but I know that J'onn and Batman had something to do with it." She shrugged.

"Not only that. If you hadn't blocked the shot as well as you did, you probably would have three times as much damage done to yourself than you do now." J'onn added into their conversation.

"Then how and why did you hide it from me?" John asked angrily. Shayera sighed.

"While I was weak-" She began but was cut off once again.

"Which you still are." Batman said with a smirk. She sent him an annoyed glare.

"As I was saying, while I was still very weak, I stayed in the medical room you saw me in about a week ago. Batman slowed the heart machine to measure beats per millisecond showing a very low reading, and then slowed the processing in the machine so that it took a long time to show those readings. That way it rarely ever showed my heart at all. When it came time for the burial, I was moved to a different room and J'onn took my place using his transformation abilities. They buried him and he phased out of the ground a couple miles away. It's nothing really hard to understand." She said calmly and quickly, while John just nodded. What could he say to that? Now that she had explained it, it really did all seem so simple. He yelled inwardly at himself for not seeing it sooner.

"Fine then, what about the second half of my question?" She looked at him solemnly.

"John, the only reason why Reolc attacked Earth was to torture me, in a sick and twisted kind of way. If I'm dead, then all his plans have to be changed, every move he was going to make has to be rethought and planned again from the start. It could take him weeks to do that."

"But why couldn't you have told me!"

"Because I have another reason why I didn't tell anyone. Shayera Hol is the one who brought the Gordanians here, what's stopping everyone else, whether they're a bounty hunter, Gordanian, or Thanagarian, from coming here to get her too! But if she's dead then there's no point in coming, and there would be no risks in harming the Earth. That's why I didn't tell anyone. If I told just a few of you, then there's a risk of it getting out, and I can't risk that. I can't bring harm here any more, John. Do understand that?" Her bright green eyes were filled with sorrow as she told him this. He only nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself once again. Some how he felt as though she wasn't telling him everything. A long silence followed until Batman finally spoke.

"Now that he's up to date, it's time for you to give us another explanation."

"And what explanation is that?" She asked, annoyed that he still seemed not to trust her, though she knew he did.

"We want to know why you tried to run away." J'onn said calmly as he came and stood by her. She was quiet for a long moment deciding what she should and should not tell them. How could she simply unveil her plan to them, they would only object? But then again, how could she not, they could be useful? She looked at each of them, from J'onn to Batman to lastly the Green Lantern. As she looked at him, she wondered if she had ever gained his trust back. She knew what she had to do, so she took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you can't object to my plans because this may be the only way to finish off these Gordanians." She waited for them to answer and finally they gave in and nodded. "I have plans to meet with someone who might be able to help us. He might be able to assemble some people that know the ways of Gordanians and could help us kick them out. That's who I was going to go find after I got a ship out of the hanger." She said skillfully avoiding giving off too much information.

"Uh huh, 'some people that know the ways of Gordanians' that sounds like Thanagarians to me." John answered immediately and Shayera almost winced at the tone of his voice. She knew now that he couldn't trust her not ever again, but she kept her expression the same.

"And where exactly were you going to meet this mysterious 'someone who might be able to help us'?" Batman added to John's assumption.

"And how did you think you were going to get there with your injuries?" J'onn added his comment as well.

Shayera didn't answer.

"I guess she isn't exactly telling us everything." Batman said with an eyebrow raised and all six eyes looked at hers. She crossed her arms and refused to answer, but finally gave in to her friends.

"Fine, your right, I haven't exactly told you everything." Shayera didn't continue, hoping that they wouldn't press her further, but knew that those were very slim chances; hope hadn't seemed to help her much anymore.

"Well, go on." John asked staring at her a little more coldly than he realized. She sighed sadly and continued.

"J'onn do you have my bag of things I have left over from the Watchtower?" He nodded and turned to a small closet near him to pull out the small bag. He handed it to her and she slowly took out the thing which she had put her hopes in; the very thing that her and John had first come upon that first night it all began. She was holding the square device which they had gotten from the young boy back in the alleyways of Gotham. John recognized it immediately and listened in curiosity to what she was about to explain.

"Yes . . . I was talking about a Thanagarian when I said someone who would know about Gordanians. This," Shayera held up the device so that J'onn and Batman could see it clearly. "is a one-way Thanagarian message device, sort of like a letter."

"You knew what that was all along, didn't you? That's why you started the argument that night, so that you could keep it to yourself and make sure know one figured out what it was." John said accusingly, apparently shaken up enough about dealing with Thanagarians once again to remember that Shayera had almost been taken from his life completely.

"Yes, I knew." She responded quietly, but continued. "It's a message from a close Thanagarian that I know."

"Then let's see this message." Batman said while crossing his arms. He neither made any remark as to how he felt about Shayera's communications with Thanagarians nor changed his expression into revealing his concerns, but then again he was the Batman after all.

Shayera hesitated a moment before placing her thumb on the square shaped scanner in the middle of the device. The familiar hologram image came up and they all listened to the message carefully and intently.

The man lowered his head then looked back up at her with a smile. "I know this is probably weird for you to get a message like this…especially after everything that's happened. Anyway me and some of your other…how should I put this…pests, wanted to tell you something. A time may be coming when things will go horribly wrong at your new home, I don't have any details yet, but just know that you can get help from us…I'll always be here for you Shayera. . . . I still love you Shayera no matter what's happened . . . .Rhyan out." The screen collapsed back into the device and the room became silent again.

Everyone, deep in their own thoughts, didn't dare break the silence this time. John only stared at the device. All the feelings that he had felt during the Thanagarian invasion were all coming back to him except with a different face and fears. He could only guess what would come of this and all his guesses were of more pain. Finally, the silence was too much for Shayera and she spoke up.

"Well?" She looked at them expectantly waiting for an answer. The Martian Manhunter looked up at her.

"I agree that we could use more help and the Thanagarians do have good strategic knowledge against the Gordanians but you know the question we're all asking . . . Can we trust them?"

"Does it matter? If I go to get help then that's my risk not your's, so it's my problem if they're trustworthy or not. And if I don't come back then it wouldn't make a difference anyway because everyone already thinks I'm dead." She argued and John felt uneasy about her last sentence, but the room became silent again.

"It's a risky idea, Shayera, but if it works we should win." Batman finally spoke and John quickly turned his head to look at him.

"So you agree with her? You're just going to let her travel out in space looking for people that want her dead while she's already injured bad enough! Are you crazy!"

"I never said I agreed with her, John, but I do think that it might work if she takes the right precautions."

"Good, then I'll be ready to go by morning." Shayera stated quickly before John could answer and slowly got up from the medical bed.

"Not so fast. The precautions I was talking about was someone to go with you or at least some communication between here and there." Batman went on.

"Fine, J'onn you can find a way to make the comm. links more durable for the trip." J'onn responded to her with a nod as she got up. She seemed to be in a rush to get out of this conversation.

"You might need someone to go with you." Batman said calmly, already predicting what was about to happen.

"I'll be fine and I don't want to put anyone in danger again." She said and walked towards the door. The Green Lantern moved in front of the door, knowing what he had to do.

"You're not putting someone in danger if they choose to go themselves . . . I'm going with you."

**There it is folks. Please review and if you have any ideas or predictions for the rest of the story I'd love to hear them. I have most of this story in my mind there's just a few blank spots between here and the end so hopefully I'll be able to write more chapters and faster.**


	14. So This is How Our Journey Begins?

**I am so so sorrry to all my readers! It's been like over a month since I last updated!! I've just been so busy lately I really hadn't anytime to come up with something and write it down, but here is the next part and I hope you like it. Oh and thank you to everyone who has reviewed especially ShayeraElektra for the tips and pointers, and I think your right about John's name. So to all my readers I am now changing JOHN STUART to JOHN STEWART. ok.**

Shayera walked angrily towards the newly reconstructed Javelin on the opposite end of the hanger. She still held her wound as she walked but showed no signs of the pain that was really throbbing in her body. She was frustrated. No she was more than frustrated; she was mad, because John Stewart trailed close behind her. He and all the problems that she caused, that always came with him, were some of the very things she was trying to get away from.

"You're lucky I'm not in any shape to knock your head off right now." She called back to him with a bit of tension in her words as if she really meant it.

John kept back a small smirk from forming on his face. He knew he was the last person she would actually kill if it came to that.

Batman also came up behind them. Once the two had gotten to the Javelin's entrance, he let them step up halfway, but didn't follow.

"You're not coming with us?" Shayera asked, surprised that their intelligent friend didn't want to keep an eye on them.

"No. The League will need me here to help come up with a plan to hold them off until you come back and . . . A back-up plan as well." Batman stated and tried to keep his voice at it's regular uninteresting tone. He then handed them each an earpiece. "But I've come up with a completely knew communicator that will keep me connected to you at all times"

"You really don't think we're going to make it back, do you?" John asked, his expression now one of hardened determination as he took the earpiece. Batman looked them both in the eye.

"I'm not worried about either of you. In all these years you've both shown great potential, even if I didn't think you'd make a good teammate at first." He looked directly at Shayera for a moment and she smiled. She could still remember how closely he had kept an eye on her during their first year as teammates. He looked back at the both of them together as he said the next words. "And, I think, even through the quarrels, you two have shown me that you're the best partners in the entire League. You two work together better than anyone I know. So I think you'll do fine and be back as soon as you can." He gave a slight nod as a goodbye and John and Shayera returned it. Batman turned around and began to walk away, but after a couple steps he stopped. Then with a half turned head and a playful smirk said,

"Besides . . . I always have a back-up plan."

/JL\

"No, John we should take a left here. I know where I'm going!"

"But I thought you said you wanted to get past the Gordanians, not run head long into an entire legion of them!"

"We are not going to run into a bunch of Gordanians!"

"Yes, we are if we keep going this way!"

"No, we're not!"

"How do you know that?!"

"Because I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! NOW CAN YOU PLEASE BE QUIET!" Shayera stopped the Javelin in mid-flight as she yelled at John. The room became quiet as the two glared at each other. It hadn't been more than ten minutes since they had pulled the Javelin out of the underground chambers and out flying over a deserted countryside, when they started arguing, again.

John sighed before speaking again. "Look Shayera, if we're ever going to finish this mission we need to get along. We've always argued, but this time, can we put it to an end?"

Shayera almost smiled at John's gesture of a truce, to her it almost felt like she had won the never ending arguments that spanned their lives. "I can't promise that." She said with a smirk. "But I'll try my best."

At that moment the Javelin jerked and rocked unexpectedly as something hit the side. Green Lantern could clearly see a horde of Gordanian scout ships just outside his right window. As Shayera turned quickly in the opposite direction away from the blasts, she sped up trying to reach the end of Earth's atmosphere as quick as possible.

"I told you we would run into Gordanians if we headed this way." Green Lantern mumbled as he began to illuminate with a glowing green.

Shayera, who was trying to concentrate on dodging the strong and well aimed hits from the Gordanians, clenched her teeth as she said, "John, if you were being serious about wanting to stop fighting . . . You're not helping!"

"Right, sorry." He shrugged. "How much farther till we escape the atmosphere?"

"Almost there."

Gordanian ships raced to pull up beside their Javelin just as it entered the vast never ending area of space.

"Oh great." Shayera stated and John gave a slow nod.

There in front of them was an entire army of Gordanian warships both large and small, each one with their missiles pointing at them.

"John, hold on." While his eyes went wide and he took a seat, she gripped the controls tightly within her fists.

She scanned the area around their ship with her thumb resting calmly on the boost button.

She knew exactly what she was looking for.

In front of her . . . 63 Full battle armored, Ex-zon18 Gordanian command ships.

Behind her . . . 36 Gordanian scout ships

To her right . . . 28 Ex-9v Gordanian warships

To her left . . . 28 Zexon2 Gordanian warships

All around her . . . 465 heated blasters ready to fire.

Just near her . . .

. . . One loop hole.

Shayera pressed her thumb down on the boost.

Their little Javelin shot forward in a blast of firepower. The League had done good work with these. It blasted through a small whole in the frontlines just near the top left corner. The speed and force of the vehicle caught the other drivers off guard, but not for long. Now that their enemy had passed their lines, the Gordanians were forced to change directions.

The only problem with large warships? Very, very slow movements.

The captains yelled and cursed all they wanted at their ships as they turned slowly around to face the small ship. Not to say that they didn't have a backup plan.

Though on the other side, Shayera continued to grip the controls tightly as she sped the Javelin farther and farther away from the enemy line. John could see the tenseness in her gestures and he wondered if he should be as well.

"Shayera, is there something wrong?" He asked from only a seat away.

"Maybe. I've learned not to underestimate them. You can always count on a Gordanian to play a trick at the last second . . . Besides we're not quite far enough from them yet." Shayera said as she continued to scan the area through the front window.

Green Lantern scowled. She wasn't the only one who had learned that lesson. He almost lost his life and the love of his life in one day because of it. He wasn't about to underestimate these freaks again.

---------------/JL\

Commander Roelc slammed his large fist on the table knocking over the dark glasses that sat on it.

"Captain!" He shouted angrily in his own language. A shorter, but just as thick, Gordanian came quickly and stepped to his side.

"Yes, sir." He replied, continuing the conversation in Gordanian.

"One of the League's ships have gotten through our front line, BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T DOUBLE CHECK FOR ANYWAY OUT!" Roelc got up and slapped the captain across the face all in one quick movement.

"Yes, sir." The captain took the blow but did not change his expression to reveal any sign of disgust towards his leader, but that certanly didn't mean he didn't have any.

"Now I want you to follow my commands. The only way we're going to stop them is with speed. . . . Tell 8 cloaked Dex-8ni Fighters to fly in a loop towards their ship and fire all shots at 65% power."

"Yes, sir."

--------------/JL\

There was silence once again. Until someone's voice rang in their ear.

"_Shayera, Green Lantern -come in." _Batman's monotonous voice came through on their new earpieces.

"Green Lantern here. We can hear you fine. What's wrong?"

"_I've gotten some information from the device that Shayera placed on Roelc's commandship."_ John glanced at Shayera and she shrugged.

"Did you really think that freeing prisoners was going to be the only thing I would do on that ship?" She smiled and he replied with a playful smirk.

"Go on, Batman." Green Lantern responded.

"_He's taking over the controls. You'll need to listen to me for all the next moves until you can get out of there."_

"Ok."

"_To start, there are 8 cloaked fighters beginning to circle you. They're heading to the left at a 50 degree angle."_

"Got it. I can handle these,Shayera. With your wound you need to stay here." GL replied quickly as he headed toward the bottom hatch on the Javelin.

"Wait!" He stopped and turned around at Shayera's shout. "Batman, what kind of fighters are they?"

"_Dex8-ni"_

"Good then it shouldn't be too hard to destroy them but watch for the electrically charged protecting panels. They'll probably be near the engine and cockpit." She shouted back to John and he nodded while showing her his ring to indicate that he would only be using that. Only a moment later he had exited the Javelin.

"_John, head to an exact 90 degree angle and sweep the energy from your ring through the ships going from right to left in a direct circle."_

Green Lantern did exactly what was instructed of him and once high enough at the right angle began to shoot a direct powerful beam. He moved his arm in a forceful motion to make a perfect arch. Once he had done this he stopped and waited.

It was quiet, but only for a moment.

A barrage of fire power began to rock the Javelin coming from an invisible force. GL, a very quick thinker, created a quick bubble around the ship and a beam that began the same motion as before. It wasn't going to be that easy.

As Shayera and the Javelin slowly inched forward, so did Green Lantern and the invisible enemy line.

"_John there are blasters just below you to the right." _He shot below to the right, and an explosion soon followed.

------------------/JL\

"Move fighter 2 towards the front of the Green Lantern and fire at will." Roelc commanded.

-------------------/JL\

"_In front of you now." _John shot below to the front, and another explosion sounded.

--------------------/JL\

Roelc pounded his fist once again. "Move him to eye level to the left and fire, NOW!"

--------------------/JL\

"_Left but not down." _He shot left, this time there wasn't just an explosion. It seemed that the ships that he head been firing at happened to be one ship . . . Ship number 2 to be exact. The whole ship was now veiwable and smoke puffed from it's center.

"_The faster you react to my commands the faster we get through this, now fire three consecutive shots at an angle moving from left to right."_

Lantern shot and they hit their mark, but not quite getting rid of the two ships he had hit.

----------------/JL\

"Send number 8 and 5 to surround the Lantern, but keep the wounded 3 and 7 still firing at their ship"

-----------------/JL\

"_Can you fire at three places at once?"_

"I've got the Javelin in a bubble, I wouldn't bet on it."

"_Fine. Fire to the left at the same time."_

After the shots had been sounded, a loud sparking came from his right. He turned to see sparks that seemed to be in mid air.

"I've got clear sight on the one to my right."

"_Don't forget the one to your left."_

"I won't." GL said with a smirk as he created a second bubble around the fighter to his right.

He lifted the bubble and machine and with almost all his strength tossed it to his left where it collided with number 5 making a cloud of smoke.

-------------------/JL\

"That's it! Send numbers 1,3,4,6, and 7 to completely block off the Lantern and fire on target when I give the signal!" Roelc roared.

--------------------/JL\

"_They're coming up all around you now."_

"Which way should I fire?"

---------------------/JL\

"3 . . ." Roelc began the count down with a smirk on his face.

----------------------/JL\

"_How much power can you use right now?"_

"I'm running out of energy -I'm really not sure."

-----------------------/JL\

"2 . . ."

-----------------------/JL\

"_We don't have time, just fire all around you he's about to attack!" _Batman shouted.

Green Lantern, still holding the Javelin in a safety bubble, began to fire in all directions. He felt like a blind bat.

He managed to hit a couple before . . .

------------------------/JL\

"1 . . . FIRE!"

------------------------/JL\

The remaining fighters , since number 3 and number 7 had now been destroyed, put all their fire power on the Green Lantern. The smoke around them was lit with red light as the blasts rained down.

He was struck.

As the pain gripped him and he began to fade into unconsciousness once again . . . The bubble around the Javelin collapsed.

**So there it is -Ch.14! I'll try my hardest to get the next chaptr done soon but I really don't knwo when that will be. Keep reviewing and we'll see!**


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